The Last of Naruto
by 10000future naruto
Summary: This story is the good old fashioned naruto being transported to The Last of Us dimension after his defeat against Madara. It takes place several years into the infection outbreak, but first he will get use to the environment until the game ark. The story is dynamic with strong themes and special thanks goes to RadBrad walkthrough youtube. pairings will be Naruto and Ellie, enjoy.
1. Chapter 1 New World

**The Last of Naruto**

**I do not own Last of us or Naruto, that respect goes to Naughty Dog and Kishimoto respectively**

**I have recently re-edited this chapter only making minor changes. real edit = 1**

**Chapter 1 New World**

Naruto woke from the sounds of clicking and groaning in the distance, groaning himself he shakily stood up and opened his eyes to inspect his new surroundings. Confused he looked for something that bore some semblance of normality to his old life, but to no avail. Lost and confused he summarised his situation in all but one word.

"Shit"

He just lost the war against Madara. He lost his family, his friends and to top it off Kurama was extracted from him forcefully a second time while the corpses of his loved ones surrounded him.

Looking at him with dead eyes as if mocking him of his failure.

His failure to keep his promise to protect everyone.

At first he wasn't close to Kurama, so much so that their relationship can be compared to that of an ant and a boot, Naruto being the ant. However throughout the war they have come to be as close as brothers. But that no longer mattered anymore, Kurama was gone as well as everyone he cherished.

Just the thought brought tears to his eyes.

He failed them.

He failed all of them.

What was the purpose of going on?

No, he wouldn't let it end here. Not without a fight, he would make do with his new life in this world and if he died in the process, he would die accomplishing something... he would not die a failure.

From what he could deduce he was pretty sure he wasn't in the same world or at the very least the same time. This was evident from his quick inspection of the surroundings.

He looked around from the tall building he was perched to find even more taller buildings higher than the hokage tower littering the landscape.

The architecture of the place was unique, incomparable to the Elemental Nations and consisted of glass, metal and brick. The only structures comparable to the designs were those of Amegakure however they had pipes drawn out of the buildings and still could not compare to the beautiful architecture of this place and continued to stretch beyond the horizon.

Although the beauty of the designs looked better than Amegakure he noticed they were in shambles, some of the windows were broken and there were holes in the buildings. Most of all there were plants ranging from weeds to flowers growing out of random areas of the constructs. Some buildings were even collapsed on each other, more littered with broken glass, and the lower buildings were even boarded up with planks.

Naruto looked further down and noticed metal canisters of some kind with wheels. Confused he looked around further and even noticed 'people' walking around, the first thing he thought was either the people of this world were lazy as hell (like me) and sucked at maintenance or had a different preferences to design.

After inspecting the surroundings a bit more he decided to inspect himself and his personal storage scroll sealed in his arm. He wanted to look at what weapons remained, rations, water and most of all ramen.

Taking out a polished kunai he noticed how much heavier it was and how greater in size it was to what he had remembered then he looked further to his hands noticing how small they appeared to be. Slowly he brought himself to look into the reflection.

He blinked and blinked again then let out a loud gasp as he noticed his features. He was younger, a lot younger around 5 or 6 if he was to estimate and for the better of him he didn't know why? Looking back he tried to find a direct reason as to why but eventually chalked it up to an effect of dimension travel.

Another feature he noticed clearly was that most of his clothes were gone, burnt away as if they never existed. Deciding not to run around butt naked he got out some wire and tied up what remained of his oversized underwear creating a makeshift belt, he needed to get new clothes, especially some which fitted him.

Naruto then went further on to inspect his emergency scroll and saw the horrid condition it was in. It was likely only going to survive a couple more sealing's before it broke down and was useless, he needed a new sealing scroll. Deciding to move on he checked his supplies before he would confront the locals, just as a precaution.

He began counting and found he had around 50 kunai, 8 explosive notes, some steel wire 50 food pills, 20 blood pills some bandages, clothing, 10 litres of water in 8 canteens and best of all 5 bowls of hot Ichiraku's ramen and 20 instant cup ramen. He then went on to inspect his condition. He was still injured, but they were slowly healing. He knew some scars would remain but he saw it as a reminder of his failure to protect everyone and a desire not to fail ever again. He also managed to find his Konoha headband which he stored last minute, deciding to honour Konoha his fallen home he tied it around his head. He noticed it was quite large in comparison to him, but he didn't mind it was to him a memory of his lost past.

Naruto continued to contemplate how he could still be healing, albeit slowly after losing Kurama and again he chalked it up to the side effects of once being a Jinchuriki and a current Uzumaki clan member. In addition he also noticed his chakra reserves, how low they were and how easily maxed out they had become... to put it simply he had less than what he usually did. Understandable he guessed with the loss of Kurama and all, but on the bright side he could still make a few shadow clones and do a few jutsu before tiring out. He could no longer keep spamming clones, but it was a start, besides greater control meant possibilities for new jutsu.

Naruto was brought out of his inspection as he noticed the people below him rushing into the building he remained perched on.

The way they were running and groaning was unsettling and they were getting loader and loader.

They were approaching him...

Naruto was worried, how would he explain how he got here? What does he do? Should he run or should he confront them now after all he needed the basic information like where he was and what he could do to earn his keep. Additionally he could always lie, wait a minute do they even speak the same language? He decided to wait and find out and what better way than to do so face to face.

Naruto began to prepare himself and put away his small storage scroll in anticipation of their arrival.

There was load knocking on the roof door before it burst open and in poured people (take a guess which kind), however they were not the kind of people Naruto would like to be familiarise himself with.

They were dirty, most moving erratically and some were even screaming and groaning.

Others had blood in their mouth, on their face and they were all running, running towards him.

These people looked sick and that put him on edge, sure he was in a different world and was lucky to come across an average human but these people REALLY put him on edge.

'Damn' Naruto thought, he already had enough shit on his plate 'oh well'.

He signalled them for him to speak but they just kept running towards him with their mouths open, some screaming, most groaning as if hoping to bite a chunk of his flesh.

Like a tiger to a deer.

Predator to prey.

"Stop, let me explain" Naruto said hoping to explain his predicament, even if it was going to be a lie. He knew outright saying he dimension travelled was stupid but a well thought up lie never hurt anyone.

These 'people', however didn't get the message and didn't stop. Deciding to dodge instead of the old fashioned one two, he utilised the sun-shin technique carefully making sure not to be trapped by them. This continued on for a minute till he noticed a new presence of another person on the rooftop or rather, 'creature'.

This 'creature' was different from the humans currently chasing him. Its head was not shaped out as a face; in fact it was shaped horridly with weird fungal like plates growing in his head and out and worst of all,

It was clicking.

Naruto was stunned for a moment, from his analysis of the 'creatures' that were chasing him he noticed they had some semblance of humanity, the good old 2 arms, 2 legs, a head and torso with the only major difference being their erratic behaviour. But upon looking at the newcomer who he decided to dub as clicker he noticed something was wrong that being the top of his head along with its eyes were missing and instead replaced by fungal like plates on its head. To top it all off it was clicking.

He then pieced things together.

A run down city that looks like it can house thousands of people yet was quite barren.

The growth of wildlife sporadically in man-made structures

Weird 'people' or 'creatures' chasing him.

He could only think something was wrong and deciding not to stick around and hoping to find somewhere quiet to piece the situation together, Naruto took off jumping off the 50 story building and running along the exterior sticking to it like glue to paper.

He hoped to find a quiet place to plan his next course of action.

After a minute of running down he landed at the bottom of the building. Taking a few seconds to recollect himself he looked around. Now he definitely knew something was wrong, he could not see the bottom before, but close up he could definitely see problems.

Some areas were barricaded and completely blocked off by small walls and barbed wire

Others were littered with large cylinders on wheels and had a large metal stick pointing out from the top, he didn't know what they were used for but looking at them made him uneasy.

Finally the other issue is he could see bodies and blood, although not littered everywhere like a battlefield it was enough to identify a horrific struggle with holes everywhere and strange metal sticks being held by the dead.

Clearly this world had problems of its own.

Deciding to be resourceful Naruto went up to one of the corpses dressed in green and decided to loot it, but not before kicking the corpse to make sure it wasn't alive... Hey it helps to be play safe just in case it was some trap, wouldn't want to find out the hard way when he was in the middle of looting.

Being as quick as possible he looted the body taking the large metal stick, a small hand held metal weapon, a map, a knife, some round stuff with a pin and other metal canisters that held small cylindrical and metallic objects. inspecting the large metal stick he accidentally pulled the trigger, 'BANG, BANG, BANG', three small bullet shot out at shot the glass off one of the buildings shattering it, it fell to the ground and there was a loud crash which seemed to echo throughout the city.

There was long pregnant pause in which Naruto was also part of, stunned at what just happened after all it was a shinobi's rule to be stealthy.

Suddenly there was a flurry of footsteps followed by groans and clicking. Seeing that this was not the time to idle by Naruto picked up the weapon again and continued to loot another body only having enough time to take its backpack.

He was going to experiment with the weapon later, now he needed to leave

However due to his moments of hesitation it cost him as a creature that was close by took a bite at his left arm.

Naruto screamed and countered the creature with a kunai through its head then beheading it.

He stumbled back from the pain and he was losing blood fast. He needed to treatment as soon as possible so collecting his gear he jumped up the opposite building and started running up.

A short while later Naruto can be seen running up the building opposite to his prior place of refuge and decided to rest there for a moment. He looked around to find the top almost completely barren save a few empty cans of food and a tent which he would scavenge later.

He decided to make the rooftop safer by destroying the only entrance before cleaning his wound.

Naruto steadily opened the door with kunai in hand and eventually realised the reasoning of its bareness. The stairs leading up to the rooftop was destroyed, or rather completely missing.

He seriously doubted that the creatures can make it up since he deduced from the ones below they were incapable of utilising chakra and so far he hasn't seen any flying.

Naruto doubted they were zombies; they weren't lumbering so instead he dubbed them as infected, especially since he could feel his immune system destroying what remained of the fungal infection; however the thought that some could potentially fly scared him.

He had no idea what to do.

So instead of taking the risk and settling on the rooftop, he needed to find somewhere high above with a roof over his head.

He couldn't make any conclusions till he knew more of the situation, for now he will clean and bandage his wound.

It took around 3 hours till Naruto found a building suitable for a camp-out. It had a roof, was far above ground and had only an entrance through a broken window, the downside was it had a few bodies littered around the place and he would remove them though some were eerily floating face down at the Olympic sized swimming pool. It was going to be annoying cleaning the bodies, but he was sure a shadow clone dumping them out the window would do the job, good old shadow clones... losing that ability completely would have sucked.

The machine that brought people up, a lift from what he read of the sign was broken. He didn't know how he could read it; he just did and chalked it up to another side effect of dimension travelling.

He'd look over it later.

As a precaution Naruto decided to cut the wires of the lift to make sure it stayed down, permanently.

In addition he destroyed the emergency staircase. Initially he saw an infected clicker in the staircase but using a paper bomb tied to a kunai he launched the kunai at the infected and closed the door, then 'BOOM' no more infected or staircase.

For now his hideout was secure and tomorrow morning he would go further to fortify it while a shadow clone or two would explore the city. As the original he had to keep himself safe after all until he found out more about his situation.

Naruto decided to barricade the open window and set traps that would not only alert him, but temporarily halt any incoming infected. Usually this would take a while to complete the task, but with the aid of an additional 2 shadow clones he was able to secure his place of refuge in 3 hours. Additionally Naruto was able to find temporary clothing in the form of a child's blue spandex swimsuit. He shuddered for a second remembering Lee and Guy who were no doubt proud of him right now in taking the next step forward as an empowered 'youth'. Naruto was momentarily conflicted over leaving his secured wired underwear, but he needed to do this so he put on the unique all covering spandex swimsuit and found it rather loose.

It was now night and Naruto had a small fire going in metal bucket he found and burnt what scraps of wood he could find while using the 2 clones to read magazines and books he found scattered around. He took this time to think over his situation while eating what remained of final stash of Ichiraku's ramen.

He was depressed and his current situation didn't help. Eating seemed to help and made him feel, better. Guess he now understood why Choji wouldn't stop eating.

Naruto continued to think of the death of his friends, their lifeless eyes staring onto him in hope he would come around and save them.

However that was not the case and Kurama ended up being extracted from him a second time losing his lifelong partner once again.

Sakura, Hinata, Sasuke, all died last to buy him time to make a plan, all for naught.

Naruto began to slowly shed tears.

Then he finds himself in a new world with limited chakra.

No way home

No idea what's going on?

His home lost in defeat

And most of all surrounded by infected lunatics out for his blood.

Life was shitty for Naruto and he had no reason to keep going, yet he would not give in so easily. Doing so would mean all the sacrifices of his friends would be meaningless and would desecrate their memory.

So he would continue to fight on.

Wiping away his tears Naruto pressed on with hope and a desire to make good with what was left of his life, he was a kid so there was an opportunity to start over.

Tonight he would rest.

Tomorrow was a start of a new journey and he won't go down easy.

_Current supply:_

_M4 assault rifle = 10 bullets_

_9mm pistol = 20 bullets_

_Tent_

_49 kunai_

_7 explosive notes_

_some steel wire_

_50 food pills_

_20 blood pills_

_some bandages,_

_10 liters of water in 8 cantines_

_0 bowls of hot ichiraku's ramen_

_20 instant cup ramen._


	2. Chapter 2 Adventure at the private pool

**The Last of Naruto**

**I do not own Last of us or Naruto, that respect goes to Naughty Dog and Kishimoto respectively**

**This chapter has been re-edited = 1**

**As a heads up I'm rather bored so I'm publishing this early as well. most comments will be reviewed in next chapter and any issues in my posted chapters will be republished at a later time.**

**Also i updated this, if you read it when it came out there were more errors and had a crap flow to the story. Please re-read it is a lot better**

**Chapter 2 Adventure at the Private Pool**

Naruto woke up to the sound of gunshots in the distance.

He now knew that the hand held metal pipes were called guns and also the basics of its operation such as how to shoot and reload. Naruto however has yet to actually test his newly acquired assault rifle and pistol simply because he did not wish to attract attention of the infected.

Another tibit of information he found out.

Throughout the night the only two shadow clones Naruto could make had continued to read while keeping guard of the pool, aka his own personal new safe house. To maximise his capacity to learn Naruto had ordered his clones to wake him up at 3 hour intervals in which he would dispel the present clones and replace them with a new batch. Naruto usually only required 4 hours sleep per day since he was a Shinobi, but he was weakened by Madara and yet to fully recover, not to mention someone taking a bite at him yesterday.

Through the 3 hour interval method he could organise his knowledge and be prepared for anything that came his way suddenly, after all a Shinobi needs to be prepared and information is the best way to go about the preparation. Throughout the night the clones continued to read and keep guard, reading books ranging from guns and cars to lifestyle and newspapers. Newspapers were the big bomb of information of the current state of the world and although newspapers were no longer being published having stopped 11 years ago due to the outbreak of 'mysterious infection', it was still a dead giveaway that the world was different before.

There were more people

Streets were cleaner

No corpses hanging around

And most of all no infected.

The outbreak of the infection, fungal disease or whatever changed everything. Looking back he deemed that the 'infected' was an appropriate name for the 'creatures' that swarmed and attacked him, hoping to take a bite out of him.

One infected was successful.

He flinched, he didn't know the symptoms prior to ending up infected, but he was sure with his Uzumaki blood and what remained of the Kyubi's chakra that he could fight the infection off internally. He hoped it would fight it off. Going down as an infected after all he has been through would actually be pretty sad.

He learned many things through the magazines and books. The especially useful ones were the national geography, business and technology cantered pieces. Guns were one of the big things he learned about and was quite eager to test them out.

From geography he learned this wasn't the only large city with monstrously tall buildings that dwarfed the Kyubi three times over, apparently there were cities worldwide like this and were quite common.

He learnt of countries and the population of approximately seven billion... Seven Billion! That was huge, the elemental nations only ever numbered in the millions, but by comparing results from the past he could see the reason why. War was a less common thing in this world, this fact was further pushed when there were no mentions of anything even remotely close to jutsu. Even in the technology section.

Everyone in the world relied on technology for their day to day activities in the past. Naruto was jealous of that, since no chakra meant no techniques which meant no form of dangerous combat and meant no ninja's. He supposed that's what eventually led to such a high number of people and a more established peace system.

He wondered if this is what the elemental nations would have turned out like if the Jubii, the Sage of six paths and the priestess didn't mess with power. Well there was no second guessing himself now.

Thinking about it again he supposed the population actually worked against the people of the planet. After all it meant more victims and more infected. He was pretty sure that in the Elemental Nations the people could easily fight it off, and if it was airborne the medics could make a difference after all they had access to chakra and these people didn't.

He briefly wondered if he could do something about that.

Looking at technology related magazines Naruto was able to learn more about guns, how they operate and reloading. He now knew how most of them operated and what gun's he currently carried.

For the lone assault rifle it is the standard M4 carbine while the pistol is the standard 9 mm.

He knew the M4 was bad short term, but for now he will store it, it only had 10 bullets left with one magazine. It also had an issue of being loud and semi-automatic. This meant some of the bullets would be wasted regardless.

The pistol on the other hand had 20 bullets and 2 magazines that would be effective long term as he could fight with a knife in one hand and pistol in the other, hence conserve bullets and having more efficient reload times. Regardless he would still stockpile the M4 as it would be useful later on.

Other good tibits of information he got from technology was vehicles. Cars and helicopters sounded fun and he wanted to try them. Flying would be nice as well as their medical technology. Hospitals ran completely on technology, there were things here that the elemental nations could do better with.

Well could've done better with.

The people of this world were so interesting, instead of relying on chakra they supplemented with technology, he couldn't wait till he started exploring, but first he had to worry about the present.

Today he decided to inspect the wound, while in the meantime he would send a clone dubbed 'scout clone' to scout out the gunshots sounding of in the distance while another clone would scavenge what supplies he could and store it in his newly acquired backpack.

This was the apocalypse, whatever materials he could get his hands on would definitely work in his favour long term and he also needed a new set of clothes, some that would fit him better and wasn't an embarrassment. If it wasn't for him tying his underwear with wire yesterday he would have run around butt naked while being uncomfortable fighting infected like that. He eventually managed to find children's spandex suit that just fits upon busting the lockers, however he can't imagine where they've been. Another thought that crossed his mind was that by scavenging supplies he may prevent others in dire need from acquiring them in the future. Guess he would need to be picky.

Well lucky for them he didn't exactly have much storage room on him.

God he wanted a good storage scroll.

He can make one, but now was definitely an inappropriate time, especially without the much needed materials to construct one, long paper of a minimum of 1 meter for small private scrolls and 5 meters minimum for large storage scroll, some fabric that can match up to the length, a roller, threads and needles and most of all ink and a brush. Hopefully the scavenge clone would be able to find those.

He would also need to look for more information on the world, customs, languages, diplomacy, the location of quarantine zones, safe zones and much more. He needed to be prepared because in a world like this, survival is what truly mattered.

Dispelling the present clones gaining what little knowledge they learned over the time period, Naruto created 2 more shadow clones almost maxing out his chakra yet again. It would be 10 minutes or so before he would recover from the loss.

His control was great but now he needed to work on maximising his reserves as soon as possible, especially in such a dangerous and unsure world.

"You. The Scout Clone. You will be investigating the gunshot and hopefully find any survivors, help them out if their friendly and watch yourself I put a lot of chakra into you so you can do more strenuous activity and take more punishment. If you can find supplies on the way, great. Take what you can but your primary objective is scouting for any life... other than infected". Naruto said in a commanding voice

It appears that the war has finally had a more positive effect on his maturity, even if he is 6 again.

"You scavenge clone as the name suggests you will be scavenging for items of variety of sorts. You will have this bag and fill it with whatever use you can find, but focus on materials for the large storage scroll, some holsters for kunai and guns as well as food, medicine and any information on quarantine and safe zones. If you find something interesting collect it. Start at the supermarket. If you do dispel due to complications, be sure to do it in a safer place, I'd rather not fight a horde of infected".

"You got it boss", replied the scout and scavenge clone as they proceeded to disappear ninja style, through the open window.

"Now then time to look at the bite".

Slowly Naruto unwrapped the bandages around his arm. It no longer hurt nor was it bleeding, it was healing over quite well; rather all that remained was the bite scar.

"Great, another scar to live with, sigh, better fortify this camp, this would be easier if I had Kurama, I could just spam shadow clones to do all the work", then it hit him like a ton of bricks.

"What about nature chakra?" face palming Naruto couldn't believe he'd forgotten that, he could of used it earlier to scout out the city at the comfort of his humble abode. It was going to take a while before he could get into it again but practice makes perfect. On top of that he needed to know how to perform and maintain sage mode by himself as he could no longer rely on clones to power him up.

Instead he needed to draw it in naturally.

Taking a deep breath he meditated, and meditated. It took a good hour before he gathered enough energy to enhance his senses and with the remnants of Kurama's chakra he was able to feel out a good chunk of the city, the different life there. Naruto delved deeper into his senses, he discovered many life signatures that desired nothing but to feed and expand. From that he deduced they were the infected... and scary enough there were a lot of the infected, a whole lot more than he imagined was centred at his block, as if conversing on his position.

That frightened him a little.

After a minute he could no longer maintain sage mode, it was too hard, he was too young and being in a small body with a large mind was taxing. Deciding he would work on sage mode in the future he decided focus on other prospects, or rather his own Chakra.

Taking a slow breath Naruto softly spoke rasengan... and dear Kami it actually worked, there was no issues other than it was more taxing on his Chakra system, but that was expected and he was sure going to increase it in the future. He may eventually be able to use rasenshuriken again. Just the thought of it made him giddy. For now though he needed to work on the basics, such as substitution jutsu, henge and other offensive jutsu. He'd have to look over techniques others used since no matter what he thought in the past, he was seriously lacking in the basic offensive jutsu. He'd have to learn and recreate his own from scratch.

Taking down mental notes of his predicament and solutions, Naruto proceeded to take different chakra exercises such as walking on water to expand his reserves. For a moment he paused and wondered how well his clones were doing in their assignments.

**Supplies same as chapter 1**


	3. Chapter 3 The Scavenger Clone

**The Last of Naruto**

**I do not own Last of us or Naruto, that respect goes to Naughty Dog and Kishimoto respectively**

**This chapter has been re-edited = 1**

**By the time I post this I have made significant leaps in improving my first 2 chapters, please re-read them.**

**Comment Review:**

**TheatreFreak12: Thanks for the constructive review. By the time I post this I probably updated my previous chapters. I most likely would continue updating so that it has a good flow. Personally I thought the first 2 chapters were lacking, but I needed a starting point. In the future I may add something so new readers don't lose as much interest.**

**meowy1986: Thanks for the questions Sorry If i made the math a bit difficult to understand but ill answer your questions below **

**1: The current time is within the time skip. 11 years into it in fact. Naruto is currently 6, Ellie is currently 5, and the time skip is 20 years. since its already 11 years in you have 20 minus 11 equalling 9 years left till the original story time of the game. Add 9 too both their ages and you get Naruto at 15 while Ellie is at 14. If you are wondering where I got 11, I had actually planned it out subtly in chapter 2, it was in the first few paragraphs with the newspaper, having stopped being published 11 years ago due to 'mysterious infection'. **

**2: Naruto had Kurama extracted and was brought younger again. Without Kurama he doesn't have access to crap loads of Chakra and growing up he won't have crap loads either since he will be a normal guy. Sure as an Uzumaki he'll have more than normal and I have already taken that into account i.e. he can still do shadow clones even as a 6 years old. Also Most Jounin can only make 2 - 4 shadow clones and still get tired and that's when they're in their prime. I'm kind of already pushing his shadow clone ability and Uzumaki reserves and regeneration as a kid and chalking it up to life experience. Also this is the biggest thing in apocalyptic stories with crossovers. There is always an issue of manpower, supplies and such... spamming thousands of clones or even 100 would likely screw any atmosphere produced by the game The Last of Us and let's face it, using logic in any apocalyptic scenario why doesn't he spam and save the world, he'd have an army of super humans to combat weak zombies. Such logic seems to deter my enjoyment of a story which spamming can simply solve and that is definitely not being done in The Last of Us Game. Don't worry he will still have a few and also have potential for other techniques since chakra control is up and with his experience from watching others fight he can learn... i.e. who says sharingan is the only thing you need to copy... oh and of course it will take time.**

**Sorry for the rant, but I seriously appreciate your review. You are after all my second review in my whole life lol... **

**Naruto and Ellie won't be paired for a while. There will be a time skip, but for now I was hoping to link Naruto to the environment of Last of Us. He will meet them in the future but not until a couple of chapters down the road. **

**I also plan to update as soon as possible, why cause I'm bored and don't have assessments as of yet. So I figure, why not improve my writing skills while dumping ideas of my own fantasy**

**Warning contains strong language, don't like, don't read.**

**Last of Naruto**

**Current age **

**Naruto = 6**

**Ellie = 5**

**Into time skip = 11 years**

**9 years till game arc.**

**Chapter 3: The Scavenger Clone. **

"Kami... damn the boss, he gets to laze off while we have to deal with these assholes. Clones should have rights" said the scavenger highly irritated as he ran from the infected chasing him.

True he had been equipped with the M4 assault rifle and the 9 mm pistol, but he was running low on bullets and using either on the open street was suicidal especially since he needed to stop, aim and shoot, after all it's his first time using the rifle. Scavenger continued to run towards one of the 'Malls' he read about.

"Shit"

As scavenge came up to the mall side entrance he spotted 2 clickers exiting the emergency exit, 'well guess I got to learn to shoot fast' scavenge thought to himself as he took out the M4 and began firing wildly as he ran, most bullets actually missed their target, but a few managed to hit them in the right area and brought one clicker down. The other was still standing and rushed the scavenge clone. Barely avoiding being lunged at and bitten the clone was able to chakra jump above the clicker and into the doorway of the mall. With fast thinking he quickly shut the emergency door and locked it, there were a few bangs on the other side, no doubt the infected trying to get in.

For now he was safe, but he didn't let his guard down, no doubt the gunshots alerted more infected of his presence inside the mall and out. He just knew getting out was going to be a bitch.

'Now was not the time to be side tracked got to find the supermarket, should look like one from the lifestyle magazine,' the clone thought to itself.

All he really learned about the supermarkets that they were lined with shelves full of stuff and people picked them and bought them. He also had no idea about the architect of the mall so his first priority would be to find a map. The map from the first day did help him in finding the location of the Downtown Mall but now he needed to find something more local, running around a mall looking for the right store was a stupid idea when infected were chasing you and from his gunshots, they probably knew he was there.

'Well time to get started'.

It's been 10 minutes and Scavenge has been able to find a map, one was actually posted up at the end of the hallway, It was just was covered with dirt and grime. After a few seconds cleaning, bam instant map. The good news for him was that the supermarket back entrance was just past the storage room after the door, the bad news was the storage room had multiple entrances right behind the door that just screamed ambush; still he had a job to do. First he would check the other doors he passed just in case he missed anything important like ammo. He needed some for the M4 as he used it up, but pistol ammo would also be nice he only had 20 after all.

There were 3 doors to investigate, 3 mystery doors with either goods, infected or both on the other side. Slowly walking back to the first door, scavenger took out the 9mm pistol and the combat knife the original scavenged off the dead military guy. Using a flashlight the original found in the scavenged backpack, scavenger fastened it on the backpack strap, turned it on and proceeded to open the door with the pistol in his right hand and the combat knife in his left. When he opened it he waited for a few seconds to hear out any noise of sudden movement... nothing. For now there was no infected.

*phew* 'this is actually quite stressful',

It was well known shadow clones replicated their original and that included their fears. Although Naruto's fears watered down due to the 4th Shinobi war and fighting immortal zombies, the original still retained a fear with ghosts, infected was just pushing his fears.

Walking in slowly Scavenge analysed his surroundings hoping not to miss anything. It appeared to be a small room full of boxes and documents. He doubted he could find anything useful in the room, but he decided to look around. After several steps into the room he noticed a body on a rolling chair by one of the desks. Slowly turning it around to investigate he noticed it was dead and had been decomposing for a while. 'Guess that's where the smell was coming from'.

He investigated further and noticed a hole in her head and a gun being held in one hand. 'Poor girl' it didn't take long for Naruto to piece what happened together. Just by looking the girl most likely committed suicide to escape reality. After all infected running around and bitting people turning them into infected would have a significant strain on civilian mentality. Sometimes a quick death was better than facing such a reality.

Further investigating he noticed her to be around mid-20's 'what a waste' he thought, still he needed to scavenge the girl for anything important, he knew it wasn't right but morals be damned. The world was screwed and the living needed the items more than the dead. After scavenging the room he was able to find another 9 mm pistol, from the girl and 10 bullets for the pistol. He decided to keep it, may need it later after all. Additional finds included a first aid pack that with bandages and alcohol, simple enough. Guess he could make his own later.

15 minutes later after scavenging through all three rooms and fighting of a couple of infected runners with a good shot to the head, Scavenger was slightly drenched in blood, 'ugh how disgusting' he all but gaged to himself. Wearing spandex swimmers didn't help at all either. He really needed better clothes. On the bright side he was able to turn on the lights by starting the generator. This made his job a hell lot easier since the flashlight was narrow and easily spottable; downside was that the infected runners could also see him. Guess he had to be extra careful from now on.

From his investigation the scavenger clone was able to find 2 health kits and a Molotov cocktail. Additionally the Scavenger clone, hence the original as well wasn't too familiar with crafting at first, but so far he was sure he knew how to make a on the move 'Health Kit' as well as 'Molotov Cocktail'. They both consisted of alcohol and a rag... who new reading books on the new world plus improvising can be fun and useful at the same time?

Naruto himself wasn't a fan of reading in the past, unless it pertained to jutsu and techniques in which case all bets were off. In addition to his finds the clone was also able to scavenge 5 blades, 3 Rags, 2 Bindings and one Sugar. For what they could be used for later he wasn't too sure, but he knew they could come in handy.

Deciding to move on the clone decided to open the door while turning off his flashlight. He knew on the other side there were infected if the clicking he could hear was any indication. He also knew staying still and shooting was stupid and will get him dispelled since the entrance was at the end of the storage room and he needed to save his chakra and bullets. Also there were 4 entrances to the storage room. Any sound will no doubt attract more infected in which he could be swarmed. Guess this is where he played his hand on stealth.

"Here goes nothing" the clone whispered to himself unsurely.

He slowly opened the door and inside he found a large room. It was comparable to a warehouse, or storage facility he remembered seeing underground in Konoha. Supplies were scattered everywhere, it was dirty and there were decomposing bodies inside. Military personnel bodies he noticed. Some had guns, majority with M4 and 9mm pistols. There was however other unique bodies, these ones were surrounded by fungal growth and appeared to be releasing 'spores'. More information he filed away for later. At least he knew he was immune after all Shadow clones were of Chakra and had no blood.

Looking around the storage facility was treasure trove Island, however he knew he couldn't scavenge from them as a lone clone. Too many variables, too much opportunity for noise, too many open entrances. From what he could see there are a few clickers and 2 runners that appeared passive and weeping as if trying to resist the infection. Also there was something else. There was low croaking (for those that don't know these are stalkers and are more aggressive then runners with better eyesight. got it from wika.) of infected in which he eventually dub as stalkers. They after all appear to be more cautious of movement and the environment and appear to be mid-way in their head transformation. Guess he'd think more about it after he did the supply run.

Deciding to be as quiet as possible and hoping to avoid whatever contact he could, he decided to sneak around hoping not to catch any of their attention. From looking at his position he could see that in the centre of the warehouse were crates, bodies and sandbags lined up with machine guns. He guessed that the soldiers stationed here had a final stand of some sort against the infected and that meant this mall could have been established as a command centre of sorts till it was evacuated or over run. This meant there was an opportunity for plenty of material and ammo lying around as well as infected, something he'd rather not test out.

Moving around as quietly as humanly possible the clone was able to make it to the other side without alerting the infected in the vicinity. In addition he was able to scavenge a lot of ammo for the M4 while picking an additional one up as well as 2 9 mm hand guns bringing a total of four including himself, they could after all be useful later on if he managed to team up with other survivors or for trade.

He opened the final door slowly, however in doing so a stalker spotted him and bellowing out a cry charged him. The clone noticing the sudden flurry of movements quickly turned around and shot the stalker in the head. That however alerted every infected in the store room and possible in the mall.

"Shit" the clone said in a moment of desperation

Within a short time the clone rushed in through the doors and closed it, using a recent M4 rifle he picked up to enforced the door to make sure it stayed closed. In his sudden haste he didn't notice the clickers and stalkers that were already inside the supermarket until it was nearly too late, however with enough reaction time the clone decided it was time to expend some of his little chakra available and he jumped onto the roof.

Using his handgun he began shooting at the clickers and stalkers taking advantage of what little time he had to stick on the roof. He aimed for the stalkers first since they seemed to be able to see while the clickers he could deal with later. There were around 22 of them and for a moment he was worried more would come, yet there was no other flurry of footsteps or any indication other infected were on their way. Regardless he kept shooting; he managed to take 15 infected down before he had to drop or risk using too much chakra.

"Haaaaaa" as if a battle cry for war was sung the clone equipped the army combat knife in one hand while the 9mm remained in the other.

Scavenger fell from the roof and landed on top of a clicker and proceeded to shove the knife into its screwed up brain, killing it while shooting at the same time at another infected, then before the now dead clicker collapsed to the ground he back flipped off like a gymnastic expert while shooting felling another clicker. The infected however continued to charge at him and he only had time to let out one more bullet felling one before engaging in hand to hand combat.

It was a flurry of movements by Scavenger, as if it was a dance. Two eventually fell to his knife skills, while the last 2 fell through careful use of the gun.

*phew* "I may not have the Sharingan, Byakugan or Rinnegan but who ever said my eyesight sucked Sasuke" he all but commented to himself.

It was a morbid thought however and scavenger paid for it in the flurry of emotions that followed. Sasuke may have allied with them in the end, but he too died. It was a depressing memory for Naruto, and as a clone he to felt that pain.

Shaking his head to get back on track he decided to get back on task. He needed to find the tasked items. He needed materials for the storage scrolls, holsters for kunai and guns, food, medicine, any form of information on quarantine and safe zones and most of all more combat effective clothes.

'First, got to secure the entrance'. Scavenger thought 'wouldn't want more infected to pour in'

Walking down the aisle he approached the checkout cashier in front of the supermarket and noticed that the shutters have already been pulled down. It was already closed and secure, then looking around he noticed more bodies around. 11 in total which included soldiers and some heavily equipped civilians who probably were hoping to scavenge. He also noticed that they had bite marks and holes in their head. He figured they were bitten and prompted suicide instead of turning, 'poor bastards' he thought. Looking further he noticed something devastating.

Scavenger noticed a little girl, around 6 or 7 lying face up with a bite mark on her shoulder, a bullet to the head and lying in a pool of dried up blood. He stood there, Melancholic of the situation unsure what to think. He could only guess the pain the survivors must be going through to even make that decision for their own good and hers.

This world truly had problems of its own.

For the elemental nations it was just the asshole Madara Uchiha and the Akatsuki.

For them it was the infection.

Truly he felt sad for the people of this world. To be living in peace, then suddenly thrust into a world of survival. Looking back at the child and the bodies of the adults he could only guess what happened with the scavengers. The decision they made and the emotions they were going through.

Truly this was a sad world.

Breaking out of his revere he decided to search them for anything of value. Again, he knew it was wrong, but again he knew it needed to be done.

It may be desecrating their death, but he also saw it as their will to live on, survive as a means to remember them of their decisions and sacrifice.

Looking through their packs, they had lots of food and water supplies, ammo and some med kits. Knowing he couldn't carry everything he decided to be picky with their supplies

So in doing so he settled for:

Replacing his current backpack for one of the larger travellers backpacks (Think large hiking bags)

Two additional 9mm hand guns totalling at 6

And additional assault rifle totalling at 2

All the magazines he could find totalling at 22 for handguns and 5 for assault rifle.

All the bullets he could find totalling at 112 9mm bullets and 220

6 Holsters for hand guns

2 additional health kits totalling at 4

4 additional blades totalling at 10

5 additional rags totalling at 8

3 additional bindings totalling at 5

And to top it off a map of America with information on safe zones, quarantine zones and the location of any large military presence as well as base camps for fireflies? Looking back he noticed something. The so called civilians all had a symbol on them in which he could only assume was a firefly. Another piece of information he would have to file for later.

Scavenger decided to take this opportunity to rest and recuperate since it was relatively safe. So in doing so he decided to have a snack. Contrary to belief shadow clones could eat, the food would just be converted to chakra. Although a limit remained on how much could be converted. This procedure was just uncommon in the elemental nations since it was a waste of food and clones weren't meant to be stretched too long in survival, unlike him. Naruto was just pushing it.

The clone also needed a plan to escape the mall. The only way was the way in which he came and that is no doubt crawling with infected. Going through the front was just asking for all sorts of trouble. Then suddenly

"I got it, I guess I'll have to put Molotov's and grenades to use" (acquired by original Naruto)

Scavenger then thought to himself, 'I just have to dodge and throw Molotov's at the entrances to avoid being swarmed by infected. Grenades I can use to clear out the infected already there, then all I have to do is run like a bitch'.

So spending his small rest period the clone got to work creating as many Molotov's as he could using rags and alcohol, all of which he found by the checkout counter. He got to work creating 8 Molotov's by using all the rags he presently had on him and 8 alcohol bottles he found. He'd like to carry some alcohol, however there was limited room in his bag and he still needed to find the last few items on his shopping list. This included clothes, materials for scrolls and holsters for kunai, or material at least. Guess he had to check the clothing isle first. On the bright side rags took less room, he was sure he could find more further into the store or rip apart some cloths to make some.

It took 2 hours to find the items he needed. He had enough material to make 2 large scrolls or a bunch of smaller ones, although he improvised with ink by taking printing cartridges. Additionally he collected some children clothes for himself and although lacking combat effectiveness being loose pants with only two pockets a black hoddie jacket/ sweater and a blue shirt and some small Nike shoes, he was confident with his sewing skills. Once everything was back at his hideout they can redesign the clothes to be more combat effective. To top it off he went to the sewing section and got himself a sewing kit and more rags.

He couldn't find anything appropriate for kunai holsters so he figured that the original would make some of his own at the hideout. Using that logic he decided to collect more material that may be of use to the original. Some things included meters of metal wire, rolls of fishing string, couple of leather belts and some fabric.

Scavenger decided to search the store more and found more food; he however could only fit in 4 cans of Tuna and several instant cup ramen.

Too make room he got a small female handbag and placed the Molotov's and grenades inside, he figured it was a good idea as he could easily collect and throw them out while making space for more items in his bag. Lighting it would be an issue but he figured he could use chakra to create a spark and light them up, and then throw it. Overall he thought the idea would be completely badass and he liked it.

'Damn, wish I had a storage scroll. The material is all here to make one but I don't have enough chakra as a clone. Guess I'll bring it up with Boss later'.

Scavenging around some more, he noticed most of the supermarket was untouched. He supposed it was due to the infected keeping everyone out. Due to this he was able to collect more items for crafting.

Overall the supply run was looking good.

Checking everything was in place and the bag was stuffed and tied up well with string and leather belts. He proceeded to prepare himself for the operation he nicknamed 'Delivery Boy'.

Getting out two grenades from the purse he prepared himself.

Opening the door quickly he threw the grenades in at the bunched up infected, then they exploded and he ran like a bitch from hell.

1 minutes later 'this is without one of the stupidest ideas I ever came up with', thought the clone as continued to dodge.

Everything in the beginning of operation 'Delivery Boy' was going great. He ran while throwing Molotov's at the 4 entrances he could find before he could be swarmed while dodging clickers and runners that survived the grenade rush. He was almost at the other side however that's when he met one of the fattest and ugliest looking thing in his life.

'What the fuck is that?' was all he could think,

It was an infected that much he was certain of with his head covered in fungal plates, however it was naked and disgusting beyond belief, it had large sores and blisters over its body. It was fat as if it was bloating. Bloater was the first thing that came to mind as he labelled the infected as such. The issue with it was that it was covering the entrance.

Operation 'Delivery Boy' relied on continuous running and dodging while throwing Molotov's to kill and hinder any infected that wished to join their little show. With the bloater blocking the entrance he had to run around and get Mr Fatso to move in order to make it out and he had to do it soon. The entrance block he created won't hold out forever.

If that was it there would be no problems; however the bloater began throwing something and landed near Scavenger before exploding like a grenade. It was a spore Grenade and what's worse the Bloater had really good aim.

"Shit, Shit, Shit"

Scavenger continued to run around dodging the infected and spore grenades by using sharp dodges and jumps. It was straining on his body and chakra and at this rate he would dispel. Hoping to force the fatso away from the exit he decided upon the conventional approach. Scavenger threw a Molotov at him while he continued to run.

It hit the fatso.

It moved forward hoping to put the fire out.

It burned for five seconds and it didn't return to the door. He noticed that, and decided to use that to his advantage.

Expelling two Molotov's to kill off a few of the runners perusing him he threw another Molotov at the bloater and ran to the door, using those 5 seconds of hesitation to make it through. He almost made it but he was too slow, the bloater threw a spore grenade at him while he was in the middle of closing the door. Not enough to dispel him but enough to weaken him considerably.

He doubted he had enough to make it to the hide-out, yet he needed to push on. It was Scavenger's life goal, the order of his boss and he must complete it no matter how much it pained him. He was a Shadow clone and that was his duty.

Using what little chakra remained Scavenger pressed on to the entrance in which he came, almost dragging himself to get there. He knew he couldn't make it to the hideout, but at least he could leave the items at a more accessible place so boss and his replacement could pick it up.

Scavenger was tired, yet he pushed on to the entrance, slowly opening the door he went out and took a moment to bask in the beauty of the apocalyptic city. The sky was blue, birds flying above and there was greenery everywhere he looked. The door slowly closed behind him and he slowly trudged forward.

This was the end of its short life.

Did he have regrets?

Yes, but it mattered not.

He was a clone, a copy of the original and his time was almost up.

Scavenger had been so caught up in his last moments alive he didn't register the runner behind him. There was a short pause as if life itself stood still

Then it attacked him taking a bite onto his neck, dispelling him.

Naruto stopped his chakra exercises and looked up. He just received the memories of the Scavenge clone he sent out. It had been successful in its task but didn't have the energy to make it back. Deciding to go himself to pick the supplies, Naruto created another shadow clone to act as his body guard while he picked up the supplies. Leaving he looked up at the sky as if wondering what was the true meaning of life.

Supplies gathered

M4 assault rifle = 2

Hand Guns = 6

M4 bullets = 220

9mm bullets = 112

Health Kit = 4

Molotov Cocktail = 1

grenades = 0

Blades = 10

Rags = 7

Bindings = 5

Sugar = 1

Recipes discovered:

Health Kit

Molotov Cocktail

additional plus total:

sealing scroll materials

holsters for kunai material

6 holsters for guns

information on military and fireflies?

4 cans of Tuna (small)

5 instant Ramen cups current world.

clothing.

49 kunai

7 explosive notes

some steel wire

50 food pills

20 blood pills

some bandages,

10 liters of water in 8 canteens

20 instant cup ramen elemental nations.

**Additional comments:**

**So how did you guys like that chapter... I personally thought I put too much effort into the ending. Kind of wanted to provoke the same emotion the game did to me. Even though I haven't played it... funny enough I just watched it on the RadBrad Channel and used up my entire internet to finish it as I watched it for almost a day and a half straight... great game. I'll definitely buy it later.**

**What I liked best of the game was the atmosphere produced by it. The pain off loss (Joel) in beginning and (Ellie) in Left Behind. The adventure of hope (cure), the dangers (infected), the loss (African American tragedy) and the humanity (cannibalism, killing survivors, hunters etc.) and finally the hard decisions... the ending of the game. I like the game a lot and I plan to capitalise on the atmosphere produced in the game with an extra hint of adventure and romance.**

**Also when I post chapters I will most likely update the existing chapters to make it presentable of there are any errors in the story. That's why I am a fan of constructive reviews.**

**if there is something you'd like to see please post it as a review and if I think it's good I may add it. For now I have a general plot line for the story in my head and lots of free time to write it. I don't plan to abandon this story, EVER until i complete it so expect many updates.**

**I'm still new to writing fan fiction so please read and review with constructive critique. It helps you and me in the long run. I'd like to be almost pro when I get to the juicy bits of the game like meeting Ellie and Joel with the start of their adventure and a good form of romance with Ellie, not planning anything to sappy or stupid.**

**I will never abandon this story till it's done**

**So please review.**


	4. Chapter 4 The Scout Clone

**The Last of Naruto**

**I do not own Last of us or Naruto, that respect goes to Naughty Dog and Kishimoto respectively**

**This chapter has been re-edited = 1**

**I just re edited the chapter. Had no time to proof read it and only did so recently. It now has better grammar and story flow. There may still be some errors but I can always come back to fix it and they should only be minor. No one was perfect after all and I refuse to waste time on a BETA.**

**Comment review:**

**TheatreFreak12: Thanks for your review, I will most likely go back to the chapters I've already posted and look over them and fix the errors and spelling mistakes. I'm not perfect in English but at the moment I'm rushing chapters out as soon as possible while I maintain my inspiration, also because I will most likely be busy with engineering assessments later on. I'll be focusing on improving and editing chapters later when I'm more knee deep in assessments since for now I want to get my plot out there.**

**Also for the atmosphere comment you are right in that respect, however I wasn't exactly referring to the English term in which I put great detail into describing certain parts of my story, I was more focusing in on maintaining the emotions the game provoked in their environment. Regardless you are still right and I'll be going back to the previous chapters to edit and improve them while adding more adjectives to further invoke the setting to the reader. For now I want to focus on getting the plot out as soon as possible. I'm trying to aim for a chapter a day cause as a reader I remember having to wait months for the next chapter and it was frustrating.**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter... as a heads up there will be a few more chapters till the main characters of the game gets involved as well as time skips.**

The Last of Naruto

Chapter 4 The Scout Clone

After jumping out of the window the designated 'Scout clone' or 'Scout' for short took off towards the sounds of gun shots in the distance jumping from rooftop to rooftop to avoid confronting the infected. From Naruto's escapades in the night he knew a couple of basic things about the New World he was in. Such things included the name of the planet being Earth and countries that inhabited it such as the one he was presently on, the United States of America.

He also learned that unlike the Elemental Nations which was one large supercontinent Pangaea, the continents of the world drifted apart over the course of millions of years. At first he thought he travelled into the future, but by closely inspecting the continents they didn't match up to what the elemental nations looked like.

One point towards dimensional travel.

Additionally further research from National Geographic books has shown that there was one country that possessed similar culture to his homeland. A country called Japan that even had different myths associating to a demonic 'Nine tailed fox'.

'Kurama' he thought. And that was one point to time travel.

Regardless, he supposed it didn't matter either way. He or rather the original was somewhere else outside of home.

Outside his comfort zone.

A new area. A new time. A new custom. He had much to learn and catch up on and Scout guessed that finding and befriending survivors was the first step to finding the answers he seeks. Just the thought of that didn't help his mood.

"If finding survivors was so important then why didn't boss go himself... Arrgh".He all but mumbled to himself.

'I think boss is just moping or lazing about, seriously staying back because of safety, checking wounds and training is a poor excuse' the clone thought frustrated. 'Well on the bright side I at least get to explore and help somebody out. Hope it's another princess this time' as Scout thought back to princess Koyuki Kazahana and Snow country. Scratch that 'Queen Koyuki Kazahana of Spring Country'. He thought over the idea again and internally scoffed. In all likelihood royalty no longer existed or were at least much weaker in power. Thinking back he never understood the need for Royalty.

Everyone was equal.

He continued to jump, from building to building trying to conserve what little Chakra he had. Scout took this opportunity to analyse the city. As expected it was full of large, tall buildings. The more new looking ones were composed primarily of metal and of glass. What glass remained on the buildings glistened in the sun as he continued to jump. He noticed plants of all kinds ranging from pretty yellow flowers to weeds and vines growing on the side of the buildings. The unique mixture of disuse and plants created a unfathomable apocalyptic beauty which Scout could definitely appreciate.

It was like the start of a whole new adventure.

In the past he would have jumped for joy at the prospect of an adventure in a whole new environment, people to save, things to discover, now all he could think of was his current dilemma in this mysterious new world and the failures of the past. Still the apocalyptic urban jungle was a magnificent sight to behold, well as long as he ignored the ugly looking infected running about.

He looked further and noticed large stretches of roads and bridges littered with disused cars that seemed to enhance the apocalyptic environment and the ever present world pandemic. There were all sorts of cars present ranging from black and white, red and blue and so much more all appearing in different shapes and sizes. None looked clean; most had scratches either from the infected or in the rush to escape. Few still held glass, no doubt due to the early days of the infection.

He also noticed that the cars were all clustered on the streets and the highway bridges he read about. What got his attention the most was that wildlife was growing around and onto the cars seemingly hoping to absorb them back into nature.

'Even in the end all things return to nature' was the thought that passed his head as he continued to manoeuvre to his destination.

Thinking back to his equipment in preparation for the encounter, Scout began recounting his arsenal. Most of the awesome modern weapons went to Scavenger since he had more direct confrontations to deal with exploring the mall. He shuddered at the kinds of infestations that lurked there. On the bright side he got the more familiar weaponry as well as supplies which included

47 kunai, 2 being left for the original in emergency

The last remaining explosive notes numbering at 7, well until more was made.

20 food pills. He doubted they'd have much use anyway.

20 blood pills, which might actually come in handy.

Some bandages

And 5 canteens of water for emergency.

These were stored in a small makeshift bag that was just a black leather jacket found off a dead guy and redesigned with strings to act as a carry on by the shoulder. They didn't have time to scavenge a more reliable bag at the moment, but if the opportunity presented itself he would definitely take it. Worrying about items falling out such as kunai cutting through the leather would be disastrous and he didn't want such problems with infected running about.

His current goal was to investigate the gun shots, find survivors and provide support if necessary. If they were friendly he could ask or even trade for information after all it was the apocalypse and everyone needed something.

His needs were just a bit different.

If they were hostile he guessed he'll have a fight on his hands and dispelling would just alert the original. Besides they couldn't harm him, he was a Shadow clone, a copy of the original and Shadow clones just dispelled. This line of thinking brought about another thought though.

'I wonder what the people of this world would think if I dispelled in front of them'. Scout paused and thought of such an act and giggled at the idea. They'd probably be stunned or terrified and chalk it up to a 'ghost' disappearing in front of them.

Haunting them.

Then again he doubted ghosts topped infected for others. He didn't know what was worse. Dieing by a curse or dieing by infected.

Scout continued to jump across rooftops expending as little as chakra as possible to save for his long survival. He knew he couldn't do rasengans in fear of dispelling, only in emergency could they be used and also that meant no access to large Chakra consuming jutsu. Henge and kawimari were not exempt from this rule. Scout let out an exasperated *sigh* at that.

'Man that sucks. How am I supposed to fight effectively with such hindrance's' thought Scout a he got closer to the destination.

Preparing himself he reached into his pack and equipped 6 kunai. 2 had explosive notes tied on in case there was a small horde of infected.

Approaching a low level building that held a more prestigious design compared to the modern buildings, he looked down. He spotted 3 survivors and heard another cursing about a door, probably a door to the building. The three survivors were shooting at tides of infected, no doubt attracted to the noise. He could tell more were on their way.

At this rate they would be overwhelmed.

Making a quick decision he began his own support, deciding in the meantime to hold back on the explosive kunai and focus on the use of the standard kunai.

He was sure the heads of the infected were the weak spot, so replacing the explosive kunai with 2 general kunai he held 6 up by the tip; he took a second to aim then launched them at the incoming infected. The kunai travelled more than 100 km an hour, enhanced due to his Shinobi attributes and training. The 6 kunai met their mark and pierced deeply into the heads of the infected.

LINE BREAK

* * *

Cassandra was an 18 year old girl that grew up in the apocalypse with short dark blond hair that went to her shoulder blades and a nice pretty heart shaped face which usually maintained a serious stern expression, but that did not deter her beauty. She was a heterochromic and had a light blue eye on the left while the other was light green and with her main line of work operating and repairing machinery she easily maintained a slightly musclier physic than the average slim girl. She was 5 foot 7 last she measured and wore tight, yet flexible jeans and a red hoodie jacket (saw it on one of  
the game covers but can't remember which or find a picture online so use your imagination) and was equipped with the basic 9 mm pistol coming from the empty holster on her belt.

Currently Cassandra's day was terrible and to top it off her life maintained its difficulties all throughout. When the infection outbreak began 11 years ago she was only 7 as all hell broke loose.

Infected biting people.

Chaos.

Confusion.

With quick thinking of her father they were able to find a small group of survivor's just numbering bellow 100 in total. If it wasn't for him she and her mother wouldn't have made it out at the start of the new chaotic world. Initially they were to wait out the coming storm, but when things didn't improve they began to search for a more secure area to live. Overtime their small group dwindled down until they found a safe community.

Eventually resources dwindled and many people began doing supply runs. So when their small community decides it's her turn to do a supply run it was mandatory for her to go. She didn't want to, but she had to.

Supply runs were known as suicide runs. Sometimes they were successful and everyone made it back with much needed resources, food, ammo, medicine and other basic needs, but there were times when people were lost, or few made it back. There was one time a group didn't make it back at all. Life as a scavenger was extremely risky.

And that wasn't the only problem. Infected were predictable, but other humans, other survivors were dangerous and crafty. They always had to be careful.

As usual they were running low on food, fresh water and ammo and so their group was sent. Things were going well at first for their merry band of 12 scavenging through a convenience store; however that was until a dozen clickers busted out from the back door taking out 4 of the team inside.

Naturally they opened fire which resulted with runners attacking their position flanking them from the front taking 2 more. 6 got out from that escapade including her, but it wasn't over yet.

Everyone ran to the closest fortified building down the road being the Library and bunkered in till Jeff got the front door open. In the 10 minutes of fortifying they lost 2 more members who turned faster with multiple bites. They were put down immediately. They had no time to think and plan at the time, now there were only 4 left including her.

A dozen runners were approaching flanked by 3 clickers. They were running low on ammo and needed time to supply their magazines. Things were not looking good.

"Fuck" was all Cassandra could say.

Was she going to die here?

What of her Family?

Mom… Dad… Little sis…

Hope was dwindling as she used what little time she had reloading to contemplate her life. There was simply not enough manpower left to deal with the infected in time.

There were too many and so few bullets left.

She kept shooting along with along with the other survivors felling 5 more runners, yet they just kept coming and more were replacing them.

They were simply making too much noise.

She kept shooting and for a second life seemed to play in slow motion. She then heard a whizzing sound and things sped up.

*thwack* *thwack* *thwack*

They looked forward and some strangely designed knives found them imbedded into 4 heads of the infected runners and 2 clickers, ending their forward rush.

'What's going on?'

LINE BREAK

* * *

Scout launched six knives at the runners rushing the entrance of the classically designed library. With careful aim he easily felled 6 with direct impact to their heads. Taking more kunai out he began to throw more in batches of 6. To him kunai throwing was child's play and he would help them out until they got inside, then he would confront them.

Cassandra was momentarily confused at first. 'Is it reinforcements'? No. No one she knew could throw knives that well at the same time, he doubted any human could. 'Could there be more than one person? If so why not use guns?' Still she appreciated the help and wouldn't overlook a gift horse in the mouth.

She wanted to spot their saviour and thank for the assist, however the infected were not letting up. More kept coming replacing the ones killed in droves. She couldn't let up. She needed to keep shooting, then there was another set of knives imbedded on another 6 infected. Whoever was helping she needed to thank him or her later.

"Nearly got the door" Jeff sounded of with firm agitation in his voice. She supposed it was due to the stress of their current predicament.

More infected swarmed their position. Jeff needed to hurry.

The Scout clone continued to launch sets of 6 kunai at the infected, hoping to stave them off from the survivors till they got inside the library. In which case he would follow through a window and meet up with them.

While pulling out more knives he analysed the situation. There were too many rushing their position. 6 were no longer enough. It was almost a small horde out there moving towards their position. He needed to take out the big guns.

He needed the explosive notes.

Already having 7 sets of kunai tied with explosive notes. He equipped three and threw them to different parts of the jumbled up horde. Then in a second's time they detonated, blowing infected parts all over the street. More kept coming though and he used 2 more explosive notes to fell them. Then the survivor at the door sounded off.

"The doors open everyone inside".

Scout took that as the signal to follow them in; however he needed to keep launching kunai to make sure they got in safely and barricaded the entrance. He'd follow them in afterwards.

LINE BREAK

* * *

Second time that day Cassandra was at a loss for words. When a sizable amount of infected appeared the stranger launched three kunai with weird paper tags and writing on them. He missed the infected.

'Paper tags? What good would that do' she thought to herself in desperation as she looked at the incoming horde. It was as if the stranger was mocking her. Not a moment later the paper tags exploded into something equivalent to a grenade killing dozens of the infected runners and clickers.

Cassandra was stunned. It just didn't make sense paper and knifes couldn't do that, 'how did that happen' was all she thought. Never mind, she would think on that later, for now she needed to keep shooting. Survival is what truly mattered right now and as if God decided to grace her with a miracle she heard Jeff shout

"The doors open everyone inside".

The survivors rushed into the library while Jeff pushed a bookshelf over the entrance, creating a makeshift barricade, hoping it would hold the infected back. There was loud knocking for a good 5 minutes. Everyone was on edge before it eventually stopped.

They couldn't bunker down too long, they needed to keep moving.

Cassandra looked around the entrance to their temporary shelter. As usual there were bodies lying around. She noticed the front desk, no doubt for library returns and borrows as well as a set of stairs to the second floor; they however were blocked off with book shelves collapsed upon one another with books scattered across the ground floor.

She looked to the left and to the right noticing 2 more rooms full of shelves and books branching from the entrance lounge.

Overall the place was huge.

POV Cassandra:

"We use to look after places of knowledge with rules, detail and cleanliness, now look at us". Jeff said in a melancholic tone. Guess he was reminiscing better days. Then again who wouldn't be?

I was too young to remember much about libraries, the importance of books and knowledge but clearly this was another sign of humanities lost golden age, the loss of life and the loss of knowledge. All people truly cared about anymore was survival.

Jeff was part of the Golden age.

Lived it.

Breathed it.

He talked about space travel, cars, iPhones, iPods, laptops and electricity when I was younger. Still does. He really missed the good old days, everyone missed the good old days. I might have been too young to remember much but doesn't mean I couldn't dream of better times.

Stopping that line of thought I decided to focus back to the task at hand. I looked at the dead soldiers and carcasses and counted 12. There was plenty of ammo and guns lying around along with boxes full of ammunition.

"We should arm up, rest and resupply; the community could use the ammunition. We should also keep moving, don't want to test if those doors can really hold". I told them in an authoritative voice. I may not be used to supply runs, but at least I knew my way around the leadership role. I'd be damned if I didn't use it when we needed it.

Back to third person POV:

"Sure thing boss" the three others in the room responded almost in comical sync. She may not like it but everyone needed reprieve over what just happened. A group of 12 reduced to a group of 4.

Everyone got to work filling their guns with ammo and storing additional magazines in their pockets. Everyone had equipped an assault rifle as their primary weapon as well as a 9 mm hand gun in their gun holster for emergency use. Additionally on top of what food they managed to scavenge from the convenience store all 4 survivors were able to fill their packs full of hand guns and ammo while also carrying additional sets of assault rifles on their shoulders.

Then they had a quick break, quick tin food which acted as pleasurable deterrent to the situation at hand. They were in unfamiliar territory surrounded by infected. Someone was not likely to survive. That is if they managed to escape at all. They couldn't spend too much time idling, they needed to move.

15 minutes later the group of survivors led by Cassandra and supported by Jeff moved to the emergency exit. They just needed to get to the sewer system so they can link up with their original passageway and make a safe trip home. The issue was to get to the sewerage area they needed to go through the basement, a prime area for infected. Still it needed to be done and as they made their way to the staircase they heard multiple gunshots ringing at the top floor of the Library.

"Who do you think that was?" said scavenger one in a high pitched female voice.

"Don't know, sounds like he's in trouble… Should we help out?" said scavenger 2 in a gruff male voice.

"We don't, we keep moving. If we take a detour we'll be in more danger and as far as we know he could be as good as dead when we arrive." Jeff replied in a serious tone without looking back.

Cassandra stopped walking and contemplated the problem. "It was probably the stranger that helped us out before and as much as it pains me for not returning the favour we have to look out for ourselves first".

The group agreed with her, they after all just survived a recent incursion with infected so moving on they proceeded down the emergency stair case 1 down towards the basement.

LINE BREAK

* * *

Back with the Scout clone.

Scout clone had just entered through an initially closed window from the 3rd floor, but nothing could hold a ninja back as he proceeded to unlock it with his awesome pick-locking skills. After entering and shifting out below the curtains he immediately notices problems on the floor. He could hear Clickers. He saw infected, some were continually scanning the room looking for anyone to infect and there were some runners, staying still and moaning sadly. It was as if they were fighting the infection. He couldn't wake them; he had to move around them.

Scanning the area for more infected Scout saw something new. The new the infected wasn't at the stage of the clickers but there was a beginning growth of bipedal plates and they appeared to be stalking and cautiously searching. 'Stalkers' he decided to call them. They put him on edge so he decided to be most cautious around them.

Scout hid behind a shelf and peered over, looking at his current predicament. He noticed an emergency staircase at the end of the floor but to get to it he had to bypass dozens upon dozens of infected.

There were bodies around to loot along with guns and ammo but he seriously couldn't afford to be side tracked and be caught unawares. He needed to catch up to the group of survivors.

Deciding stealth was an important factor he began a plan to divert the attention of the infected. Picking up a book, he threw it across the room hitting a book shelf.

Some the infected moved to that area to investigate.

Slowly moving as to not divert attention to himself he crept his way across the room ducking below fallen shelves or standing behind shelves that still stood doing his best to stay out of sight.

This repeated process took around 30 minutes and was exhausting for the clone especially with terror and stress looming over head. On the bright size he passed several military corpses and took a M4 with 2 magazines worth of ammo (approx. 30 bullets) and a 9 mm pistol with 2 magazines (25 bullets).

Eventually making it to the exit he spotted another corpse close by with a large backpack. Making an error in judgement he decided to pick it up, however in doing so a large book fell down with a loud *thump* close to him. Reacting quickly he took the pack and made for the exit. The infected were alerted and would swarm him. Equipping the pistol he began shooting at any runners and stalkers close to him to buy him time.

Dodging a runner in front he rushed through the emergency exit door of staircase 2 and ran down, he looked back and saw infected runners still after him. Deciding to risk the fallout, Scout equipped one kunai with an explosive note and threw it at the stairs above him and continued to run down as fast as he could. He had set it to 2 seconds and in doing so the explosion would collapse the stairs above him.

So he needed to move fast.

Expelling what chakra he could spare he increased his speed and was significantly further down than the infected on his trail until *boom*. The stairs above collapsed burying any infected that was too slow.

The clone was in the safe zone and the stairs he stood on held steady. The only issue however was that one infected was fast enough to avoid the burial. Although there was little room for mobility, especially with how unorganised he was carrying his newly acquired items, the infected runner made a mistake in its pursuit. It took a lunge at Scout as if it was going for a lucky chomp.

Big mistake.

Naruto being trained extensively in taijutsu along with being in a body of a 6 year old was able to dodge around its left side and tripped the infected. It flayed for a second before it fell down the stairs.

This was an opportunity Scout took full advantage of. Deciding not to risk using a kunai he pulled his newly acquired 9 mm gun out and shot it in the head ending its miserable life.

A minute later he decided to take some time for reprieve. Scout sat down and began ravaging through his newly acquired pack looking through all the items finding some useful while the others were dead weight and taken out.

Analysing the items he collected recently he looked over them again.

1 assault rifle, M4 if he remembered the name correctly with two cartridges of around 20 bullets.

1 9 mm pistol with 15 bullets, 'probably should have conserved ammo better back then'

And 2 health packs

Scout then looked over the rest of his items before transferring them to the better bag and disposing of the make shift one.

10 general kunai remained

1 kunai with explosive note

20 food pills

20 blood pills

5 canteens of water

Deciding to fill what little Chakra reserves he could Scout took a food pill and swallowed it refilling what reserves he lost over a period of time. He had to watch himself, no matter how much chakra he had it only took one good hit to end him.

He knew he could be replaced by another clone, but time was of the essence. From what he could tell the survivors were moving further away. He had to catch up to them, find more information about the world and know what was truly happening, then the boss could make his move and decide what to do from now on.

Packing his supplies into the new small but sturdy bag he placed it on his back along with the M4. Equipping it now was stupid it was low on ammo and took both his hands to operate and was significantly big. He however knew he could easily handle the recoil of the shots because he was a Shinobi.

He was stronger and faster than civilians.

He was a super soldier to them, even if he was weaker than before.

Deciding to dispose of the prior bag Scout began to walk down the stairs looking for some form of exit, as a precaution he equipped one kunai in his left hand and the 9mm pistol on his right hand. He liked the combination. Using two hands for a gun bigger than him posed many problems. A knife and a pistol provided the opportunity for long range and short range combat at the same time. As a clone it was an effective combination, especially since he couldn't afford to expend chakra on any rasengan's or jutsu. He supposed the original would like a rasengan in one hand and a pistol on the other. Thinking about it he could definitely say it was a badass combination.

The only downside of the combination was that the Boss would need to readjust his taijutsu. He needed to adapt with the gun and limited chakra reserves, his previous forms of combat relied heavily upon clones, brawler style fights supported with jutsu. Naruto no longer had the luxury of clones and unlimited amounts of jutsu, he now needed to fight conservatively and effectively and had to prioritise on stealth.

He needed to move like an assassin.

He needed to fight like a proper Shinobi.

Going further down any doors he tried to open proved futile. They were either barred from the other side or had debris blocking the path into the specified floor, no doubt due to the exploding tag he set of.

'Well on the bright side at least the paper tag had strong explosions' the clone thought to himself trying to cheer up while opening another door only to find more debris blocking the path. The next door down was different as it was blocked by piles and piles of book shelves in which the clone didn't bother to move, he needed to conserve energy after all.

Finally arriving at the bottom of the staircase he stopped. He was at the bottom. Looking at the door momentarily he then looked up at the sign above and read basement.

LINE BREAK

* * *

Cassandra wasn't happy with the condition of the Library's basement. The central chamber they entered was flooded and dark. She and her group turned on their flashlights trying to locate a generator to power the lights, it was easy, it was only a couple of meters in front of them and so far there wasn't any infected as the eye could see. That however was likely to change once she turned on the generator.

She prepared herself.

Cassandra signalled Jeff to start the generator while the other two survivors who she now knew as Jason and Julie readied themselves by taking defensive positions. Thinking on Jason and Julie they too had been whisked away from the community due to a lack of resources and were required to do a supply run.

Just like her.

What truly upset Cassandra was that they had a child back at home and they were out here taking on infected just to meet the basic needs of the community and their family. Just the thought of those backstabbers doing this to their own people angered her.

Then again she couldn't blame them, supplies were running low and someone needed to do supply run.

Just like her they were picked out of the barrel of luck.

Thinking more on the subject she remembered the dozen of 'volunteers' from the community that also were part of the supply run.

'Was part of the supply run',

No doubt they were infected and changed by now.

Just the thought of others like her doing something dangerous because they had no other choice scared her. Why?

Cause 'it could have been me back at the store bitten, dying' she thought morbidly.

She looked back at Jason and Julie. Again she wished she had more time to get to know them.

Befriend them.

Guess she could do that when they got out of this situation alive.

If they got out alive.

All they needed to do was move further into the main sewer system then they could make a straight run to the community.

Although many were killed, they were able to scavenge much needed ammunition that should last them a month if used correctly as well as bits and pieces of food. It wasn't much but it would help. God they needed food, they were starving back at home and designated rations did so little. There was plenty of food to scavenge, but the issue was you had to risk your life in the process.

'Then the cycle starts all over again'. She glowered at the idea.

It was a destructive cycle in which the community was victim of. They had little renewable food resources and very little could be grown in their home. The only thing renewable was rats and they were getting harder to hunt. It appears they too were suffering from hunger. Sure it may not be her specifically that would be part of the next supply run, but they would run the same risks and losses she went through.

She wouldn't want anyone in the community to go through that experience.

She shook her head. She needed to concentrate. There can be no openings in their formation. There were many rooms that faced into the central basement chamber and many bookshelves to hide the infected, especially stalkers. They and clickers posed the greatest problem.

Cassandra equipped the M4 assault rifle and loaded up the magazines ensuring the cartridge was full. She also prepared her 9 mm handgun in case it was needed in emergency, also checking the bullets inside. She looked up and noticed the other members of her rag tag team doing the same.

They were ready

Cassandra signalled Jeff to start the engine. In doing so there were a couple of loud pulls of the motor string. It took three tries for Jeff to finally start the diesel generator, then all of a sudden most of the lights flickered on. Some were in such disrepair that bulbs were missing, broken or were flickering sporadically as if signalling the start of a horror scene.

Suddenly she could hear load groans, wails and clicks. Everyone faltered, scared to face the incoming tide of infected. Still they needed to do this; it was too hard stumbling in the dark while trying to avoid the infected. They weren't built for stealth and all it took was one fuck up then the rag tag group would be fighting a horde of infected in the dark, surrounded.

No, this was the best option they had taking them all head on. This way they at least had the advantage. There may be many entrances to the central basement chamber, but at least the infected were scattered and had to travel in knee deep water. This way they could deal with small groups of infected over a period of time eventually killing them all.

More groans and moans were heard followed by the occasionally clicking of clickers. Then there were splashes. Movements in the water. The infected were getting loader, the water ripples increasing in size and sound.

They were coming.

The world seemed to slow down and for a second Cassandra hesitated when the sight of the first two infected runners came to view. She looked into their eyes. Eyes devoid of life yet held eyes of pain as if the person in the inside was trying to fight the infection, trying to win but failing. She saw their eyes and briefly wondered if these infected, no 'people' were still alive. By this thought she hesitated.

She looked further and noticed their hand flaying about. She noticed something shine on their left hand, she wished she didn't notice. What she saw was a wedding ring on their marriage finger and both the young male and female infected were wearing the same one.

'They were married' was the thought that came to her head and she hesitated to give the order to shoot.

She wasn't ready for this.

She wasn't experienced fighting infected. She only got by before due to the adrenaline rush. This revelation was horrific and painful for her and she hesitated.

Julie and Jason were however more focused and saw her hesitation; they too noticed their marriage finger and understood what she was going through, however it needed to be done. Aiming their assault rifles the couple proceeded to deal with the incoming runners.

They open fire and the infected were killed. One of the runners died with multiple bullets in the torso and one in the head while the female infected had several shots to her neck in which she proceeded to choke and collapse on the water. Dead.

It was a horrific kill to Cassandra and what was worse was that they were floating face down near each other. Touching each other. It was as if it was a romantic death.

To her it was if even in death they would be together

To love each other

To stay together as one.

It left a dry salty taste in her mouth.

She shook her head rigorously trying to focus on the topic at hand, she couldn't think like that. She couldn't start sympathising in the middle of combat. She had to fight and worry about the repercussions later, everyone was depending on her and her family wanted her to return home alive.

There were more splashes and clicking. It appears the gunshots have definitely attracted what remained of the infected in the basement. More were coming. Cassandra steeled her resolve for the coming fight.

"First time seeing such a sight?" Jeff questioned her, drawing on his strength and experience from previous encounters with the infected.

"Yeah", Cassandra let out in a raspy voice.

"You'll get used to it eventually, true they were humans once, like you and I, but that was then and this is now. It is either them or us".

Cassandra let out a slow nod, acknowledging the words from Jeff. She replied in a shaky manner as if hesitating what to say next. "Does... Does it ever get easier?"

Jeff hesitated in answering, then replied firmly "No".

LINE BREAK

The lights in the emergency exit which the Scout clone resided in flickered on and off continually. For the past 5 minutes He had been unable to pry the basement emergency exit door open in stairway 2, mainly because the door was jammed. He was presently stuck and decided to wait in the stairway and think of a new course of action.

'Should I go back up' Scout wondered in apprehension. In reality he was pretty stuck and needed to conserve Chakra for whatever tasks lay ahead. Using a rasengan now would weaken him considerably; he was stretching his temporary life as it is. He'd rather not risk it at the moment. Scout briefly considered placing an explosive note on the door blowing it out, but even he knew it was a stupid idea. He had no idea where the survivors were and he was stuck in the staircase, he wondered what he should do.

Then the lights began to flicker on and off and he could hear the humming of the motor in the distance but could not pinpoint where. 'Clearly the survivors had something to do with this', he all but thought to himself. A minute passed then he heard gunshots on the other side of the basement door then more gunshots. Scout now knew where the survivors were and needed to get around the door.

Weighing his options he decided to take a food pill and have another in reserve for chakra recovery. Even if it was slow some recovery was better than no recovery.

Scout prepared himself picking up his backpack and gun then stood in front of the door. He thought for a second. He had only one shot and he needed to do it right.

"Rasengan".

LINE BREAK

* * *

Cassandra and the group were slowly being overwhelmed. There were simply too many infected, far more than anyone expected was in the basement and they were losing ground and the infected were closing in.

Jeff had been bitten and they knew it was all over for him, yet more just kept coming. He continued to fight even if he was now infected. He still had time ranging from a few hours to the end of the day. Yet he kept on fighting, For Cassandra.

All of a sudden there was a loud shout of rasengan followed by an explosion. The party noticed it coming from one of the large rooms on the left followed by gun shots and a flurry of feet.

"Guess our saviour has arrived" said Jeff sarcastically, after all it was over for him one way or another. He was bitten and infection would be following shortly after.

"Just wish he had gotten here sooner" Cassandra responded solemnly. It was her fault after all that Jeff got bit. She wasn't focused enough and a runner nearly took a chomp at her arm. That however never happened as Jeff moved her aid, instead having the runner take a chomp at his shoulder

She understood the situation. It was over for him and she couldn't do anything about it.

Jeff was a close friend of the family and often entertained her and took care of her during her early years in the community. He was like a close uncle, a second father. Now there was nothing they could do. It was too late.

Gunshots continued to sound off in the distance; no doubt the newcomer was having his own trouble with infected. They would try to provide support but he or she was on their own, they were tied down dealing with the last of the infected making their way to their position.

LINE BREAK

* * *

"Rasengan" Scout charged his spiraling sphere and rammed it at the jammed door. There was a moment of metal grinding before he chose to explode the sphere causing enough concussive force to blow the door of its hinges and right across the room into an infected clicker. 'bonus points' was the first thought that came to mind as he proceeded to take advantage of the momentary hesitation of the infected to swallow a food pill, then re-equip the 9mm pistol and a kunai. He prepared himself for a fight.

The infected took notice of the noise and began charging at him, clickers, stalkers and runners in the mix. He analysed their numbers, 3 runners, 2 clickers and a stalker. They were fast approaching.

Learning from Experience he picked his targets. Out of all of them the clickers and stalker were the most dangerous, the clickers were strong and resilient while the stalkers had some semblance to strategy. From there he knew which target to pick first.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*.

Naruto only had enough time to let off three bullets felling the Stalker before he had to dodge a runner that was far too close for comfort. The room may be slightly damp, but great area for mobility remained. It was good as anything for a Shinobi.

Exhausting some Chakra he took a quick and long leap to the opposite end of the room to make distance between him and the remaining infected. He leapt above a fallen bookshelf that was idly remained in the middle of the room and proceeded to utilise it as a deterrent from a frontal charge of the remaining infected.

This strategy was effective since as soon as he landed there was a small *splash*, the clickers noticed the noise and his presence through echolocation and proceeded to frontal charge Scout. Right into the fallen bookshelf.

The clickers fell, stacking it onto the shelf and began crawling across to his position. The runners which had much better eyesight ran around. This bought Naruto an extra few seconds to open fire on the runners felling two with bullets to the head while for the final runner he engaged in close combat.

The runner went in for a lunge at Scout clone and tried to claw at him.

He failed spectacularly.

Scout was simply too small and nimble.

Infected vs Ninja.

Ninja wins hands down so using his superior speed and positioning Scout tripped the infected individual and shoved a kunai through his head.

Taking it out, he faced the clickers.

He needed to reload and there were 2 clickers left to deal with. They were crawling above the bookshelves and were about to bull charge him.

Deciding not to place too much risk into the confrontation Scout proceeded to reload a magazine with fresh bullets into the handgun and fired only managing to kill one while the other remained free to charge him.

The Clicker charged and with little room to jump to in time he thought fast and jumped directly up. The clicker was now just below him and deciding to save bullets Scout readied his kunai. As he came down he aimed the tip at its head and lunged forward. The clicker however noticed his presence in the air and turned up to face him.

It couldn't see him but it could sense his movement, his noise.

This was Scouts only shot and he had to do it right. To soon or too late it would be over for him. He couldn't be dispelled. Not yet.

The clone gambled and lunged the kunai at its head. It landed and struck through its forehead. there was a moment pause before the clicker began to collapse with Scout still holding a kunai through its head. The fight was over and he had won.

Scout stood still preparing for more, yet he couldn't hear anymore wild splashes in the water nor the sound of groaning or clicking.

Was it over?

Scout took a moment to regain his composure, reloaded and cleaned his bloody kunai. He paused in case he missed anything.

Nothing.

He could hear the survivors talking but there weren't anymore gunshots. It was over.

Preparing himself Scout figured it was time to finally meet the survivors.

Total supplies of Scout clone remaining:

1 assault rifle, M4 20 bullets.

1 9 mm pistol with 4 bullets,

And 2 health packs

10 general kunai remained

1 kunai with explosive note

18 food pills

20 blood pills

5 canteens of water

**Additional comments:**

**So how was the chapter? I spent a bit of time on it. Originally it was meant to be short and he goes to the 'community' (you'll find out what community is soon I encourage guesses. It may come out next chapter), but I wanted to try thicken the pot while getting to know some new characters OC's. Don't worry I have good plans for them.**

**Also when I post chapters I will most likely update the existing chapters down the road to improve it or make it more presentable while cleaning any errors in the story I can find. As you've noticed I'm rushing chapters out since my free time will be strained pretty soon and I tend to make errors in my rush. That's why I'd like constructive reviews to fix anything bad.**

**if there is something you'd like to see please post it as a review and if I think its good I may add it. For now I have a general plot line for the story in my head and lots of free time to write it. I don't plan to abandon this story, EVER until i complete it so expect many updates.**

**I'm still new to writing fanfiction so please read and review with constructive critique. It helps you and me in the long run. I'd like to be almost pro when i get to the juicy bits of the game like meeting Ellie and Joel with the start of their adventure and a good form of romance with Ellie, not planning anything to sappy or stupid.**

**so please review**


	5. Chapter 5 Survivors and Developments

The Last of Naruto

I do not own Last of us or Naruto, that respect goes to Naughty Dog and Kishimoto respectively

I don't have much time to proof read so if there are errors please point them out

Important comments.

If your wondering when the juicy bits start coming out, well it should be starting soon. All this OC and original idea is just a build up to another major turning point in Naruto's life I'd say in the next chapter you'd understand where I'm going if you played the game. I was going to add my special revelation here, however I wrote too much and decided to do it next chapter. If you paid close attention I gave away strong hints where they were going.

Also if you could review it would be much appreciated as I'd like to continue to improve as I send stories out.

As I mentioned before I'm focusing on plot and trying to get as many chapters out as soon as possible so I most likely have a few grammatical error or errors in the story. just send a review or PM and I'll get to it straight away

The Last of Naruto

Chapter 5: Survivors and Developments

Cassandra looked around the flooded basement. She supposed the water worked well in their favor from the slightly higher platform she and her team took refuge on. She looked around taking notice of any movement. Any sound. She won't let her guard down just yet. There was simply too much at stake.

She looked around again. No movement. No sound. Even the mysterious person in the other room was eerily quiet.

Was that person still alive?

Did he or she make it out?

Did he or she win?

She supposed they'd find out soon enough.

It was strange. The quiet. The stillness of the room. She took note of the surroundings once again and looked at the bodies of the infected. 25 she counted. 3 died on the slightly higher platform which they stood upon.

Those were the really close calls.

Then again she couldn't call it close since Jeff had been bit. The rest of the infected were floating in the water. Most face down. Some facing up.

It was a gruesome sight.

Blood was pouring into the water dying it red with the only disruption being the occasional book floating by.

She relaxed and looked back at her comrades. Jason and Julie were shaken and sweaty. Natural after all they just went through. Jeff was sitting down looking over the bite wound. His expression unreadable. They had survived, but one was lost. He would turn soon. She didn't know what to do. What then?

Cassandra took this opportunity to reload her magazines with ammo. She reached into her bag and began taking out bullets and loading them into the mag. She needed to get her mind off things. She needed to look busy. What could he say to Jeff?

'Thanks for saving me, i'm sorry about your loss though'.

No she couldn't say that. She didn't want this. She didn't want any of this. Jeff was a close friend to the family. What does she do? What does she tell mom and dad? She was at a loss. Still she needed to say something. clearing her throat she steeled her resolve.

"Jeff... Thank you for saving me back there... I really don't know what to say"

There was a moment pause as if Jeff never actually herd her, then.

"Its ok Darling. It was instinctual. You were someone that meant something in my life. My second daughter after the outbreak... My hope... I had lost everything already. My wife. My Child. Heh I guess I'll be joining them soon".

I stayed silent. It was horrid thing that happened. He saw me as a daughter and I saw him as an older uncle. All I could say was "Thank you... Thank you for everything". Then it was silence again.

A minute later footsteps and light splashes could be heard from the opposite room on the left. Someone or something was coming. It could be the other survivor that helped them out or another infected. She hoped it was the survivor. She was tired of dealing with the infected and another friendly face would be nice.

Regardless she and her comrades prepared themselves and equiped the assault rifle. Cassandra just took out a hand gun. She was pretty sure it was the newcomer. The footsteps were too slow and controlled, the only infected that was ever that slow was a boomer. She definately hoped it wasn't one. If it was they couldn't win.

The footsteps and the splashing got louder and louder. More ripples in the water could be seen. They aimed and prepared themselves for the encounter. Not a moment to soon a figure stepped out and onto the edge of the room entryway. The figure peered at the knee deep water in comparison to her and scowled, then cursed.

"Fuck" the newcomer swore as he peered down and examined the flooded area. It was evident that the newcomer stood at a much higher surface than the central chamber, several steps higher in fact. Clearly the figure wasn't expecting to go for a swim.

A figure who she saw as around half her height.

Cassandra didn't know what to think, was he just extremely short like a midget she heard about or was that a child?

The new figure turned to her and her comrades and she took a look at his face and body structure. The other survivor was a child and was a he. Stunned at the prospect of a child saving them she just stood and took the information in stride. She didn't bother commenting.

Jeff was a different story. "What the Fuck?" was his intelligent reply as he thought the of a child saving them was rediculous. Children were usually the first to die in the chaotic world, simply because they were too small, underdeveloped, slow and generally less mature in the situation. It didn't help when survivors usually looked after themselves first before helping a child these days, so seeing a child in an infected city of all places was new.

Again Jeff shouted off, "Hey kid where's your gaudian, do you have a group?" he all but questioned continuing to doubt the child could survive by himself in an infected controlled city.

Then looking at the child once over, he seemed well equipped with a backpack and M4 assault rifle while his left hand held wierd looking knife and a 9mm pistol on his right. The size of the pistol on his hand was almost comical. It was definately a bit oversized for him.

The kid responded ignoring Jeff's question. "Are you people friendly?" he said in a serious and firm tone showing a significantly higher level of maturity for his age.

"uh... Yeah" was Cassandra's intelligent reply, just barely avoiding sarcasm after all they took in children and any other stragglers who weren't hostile. After the questioning process of course. Children were usually exempt though.

They chose to remain good unlike the hunters.

"Ill be by there in a moment" was his reply as he seemed to relax his exterior after their response. "I'd rather not swim so ill look for something to float across on". Before anyone in the group could comment newcomer was gone.

Deciding we had nothing to loose we decided to wait. we were ready to move to the sewers and go home. Well most of them were ready as Cassandra peeked back at Jeff who was silently coughing. He didn't have long. She now had to make a decision.

Scout Clone POV

After cleaning my weapons and preparing the supplies I began to make my way to the opening of the room and towards the sound of chatter.

Each step produced slight splashes on the puddle deep water removing any prospect of stealth and observation. 'Then again it also worked to my advantage since I could easily identify any infected behind me'.

As the chatter got louder I approached the central chamber and stopped. Just below the stairs there was water.

Very deep water.

He was low on Chakra and the food pills took time in their recovery. Too much time. He peered at the water again and then looked around at his surroundings. He noticed the survivors but continued to analyse what remained of the battlefield.

The basement in particular was of basic design with concrete and the lack of windows, however he could see that there were a couple of rooms branching out where the infected most likely flooded in through.

He looked up and noticed some of the florescent lights built into the ceiling were completely on while others were blinking in and out sporadically or were no longer working leaving a moderately lit chamber with blotches of darkness between shelves and in corners. He also noticed some of the wooden shelves were both floating and sinking in the water. Others shelves just stood straight up as if ignoring the flooding all together. Books however just floated by either moving with the ripples in the water or staying still. It was as if it was waiting.

Scout looked around more before analysing the water deeply. along with floating books there were multiple bodies of infected floating about. he counted 25 in total in the room, 3 died much closer to the survivors and were on the steps of the slightly higher platform. 22 however were floating either face down or face up in the water. Scattered with bullet holes.

Bleeding.

They were Infecting the water with blood dying it a light shade of red on top of the present green.

"Fuck" I sounded of completely annoyed with the situation. The survivors were just there and he had to get across the bloody water. 'I'm too low on Chakra and can't water walk and I'm definitely not swimming in that corpse pool'. I contemplated a bit, then decided to initiate contact with the survivors.

I turned to them and spoke in a tone showing I meant business "Are you people friendly?"

"uh... Yeah" was the supposed leaders intelligent reply. I almost detected the hint of sarcasm in her voice. Maybe not all survivors were as open as them and held a shoot first and ask questions later policy. Still I needed to get closer.

"ill be by there in a moment" as I returned back into the room to find something useful to help me float across.

After a minute of re-analysing the room I decided my best bet was to make a mini boat out of the wooden book stand in the middle of the room while removing its shelves for room and for a paddle. Fortunately the shelves were already loose, probably due to the dampness of the room and I also removed the books inside.

Deciding to look at one of the covers I noticed the title of the page. World War Z by Max Brooks. Figuring it might be an interesting story I decided to put it in my bag while I finished my work on the book stand boat. That was until I heard a gunshot. I rushed back to the central chamber with gun and knife in hand and prepared for any confrontation with infected.

I peered over at the survivors and saw no infected. Without thinking I shouted "I heard a shot. Is everyone ok? What happened?"

I heard the soft sobs of the female in the group and had to forcefully stop my face palm. Still she replied in a shaky and uncertain voice which I further cringed at. After all I understood the situation. I understood her loss and Pain.

"YYYYeahh... wee'rre gggood".

Cassandra POV.

After the stranger took off to look for a way across other than swimming I heard Jeff cough loudly.

*cough* *cough* *cough*

He was turning, Jason and Julie knew it. I knew it. He didn't have long left. Already there was a bit of blood pouring from his mouth and his eyes were focusing and dilating continually.

In a weak voice Jeff looked to me and said "Cassandra I don't have long left... I'd prefer... If it was done... by your hands...Please... I want to die... remembering the life I had... And the daughter I saw grow up".

Hesitating I didn't know what to think or to do. I didn't want this to happen. All I really wanted was to live my life beside my family.

Jeff was part of that family.

I prepared my pistol. Loaded it and loaded it again as if to buy time for some miracle to happen... It was a stupid hope.

Unknowingly I began to cry silently. I was to preoccupied by the situation I didn't bother noticing the slight blurriness in my eye's. I brought up my gun and hesitated over and over again. That is until our final talk.

"Do it" Jeff replied softly as if all the energy was leaving his body. Again I hesitated fumbling in my attempts to steel my resolve.

"You were... like the... daughter... that I lost...that I... failed... to save... you are precious...to me... Thank you". Each word was a stab to the heart. But I knew what had to be done. It was what he wanted.

A final wish.

I replied one last time unsure if he truly heard me.

"And you were precious to me too... a parent, a close uncle. Thank you for everything".

I lifted my arm quickly and fired.

Back with Scout.

Scout understanding what happened decided that it was best dealt as a group, besides he still had to get across with the makeshift raft. Finishing the last touches he began to push the raft across the room and into the water.

Making sure all his supplies were in place he jumped onto the raft and took out a shelf or wooden plank and slowly he rowed towards the survivors.

Back with the survivors.

Cassandra as of now was not fit to maintain the responsibility as leader of the group due to the recent development. As such Jason decided it was time he took temporary command of their group and talk to the newcomer. The newcomer may be a child, but a child couldn't take on multiple infected even with guns. They had to be cautious. But right now if the Stranger attacked he doubted they were in any condition to fight. They were exhausted physically and mentally.

Some more than others.

Yet they needed to know if he was friendly, his purpose and his why he was confronting them.

The stranger approached in his makeshift boat traveling directly to them. He was either pushing aside bodies in his way with the paddle or ramming right into them. As he got closer everyone remained quiet. Cassandra was too busy looking over Jeff and silently crying. It was up to Julie and Jason to deal with the new development.

The stranger docked on the steps in front of them. He got out of the boat and Cassandra slowly looked away from Jeff, no doubt also curious. Still the redness in her eyes remained.

Julie and Jason observed the newcomer with critical yet caring eye's while Cassandra was still working on drying hers, but she too looked at the child with care. They all had experience with children at home Julie and Jason with their daughter while Cassandra with her little sister.

They analysed him and from what they could tell he was 6 or 7 with sky blue eyes, blond hair and a decently cute and lightly tanned face with three whiskers on each cheek? That was definitely an uncommon trait or rather a non existing one. Observing his body he seemed fairly well built for his age and he had a bandage around his arm. A fashion sense or hiding a past wound? They doubted it was a bite mark cause if it was recent there'd be blood.

And he was a kid.

They turned the fastest.

Taking less than an hour.

They were slightly confused however with what he was wearing. Not something you'd wear in an apocalypse. Swimmers. A black swimming top with red board shorts that seemed oversized for his age. Jason let out a small giggle which didn't go unnoticed by the newcomer. He turned to Jason and let out to him an annoyed expression while to the observers, a cute pout that cheered Cassandra up by a bit.

They continued to observe him noticing his pack which covered most of his back and was moderately filled. They also noticed the M4 Assault rifle swinging around his right shoulder and the 9 mm pistol in pocket. No doubt ready to be drawn without a moment of hesitation.

Scout POV

Scout arrived at the stairs and got out of his wooden raft and began observing the survivors in much more clearer detail. Presently there were only three left and he looked to the recently deceased member of the group.

It was a sad sight.

A bullet to the head and a bite mark on his shoulder. He understood what that meant and what had to be done having received scavengers memories upon dispelling a couple of hours ago.

The man was older than the others in the group being around mid 40 with short black hair and shaved chin. He was wearing a pair of loose Jeans, a black shirt with a large white tick and a red jacket. He could see he meant a great deal to the girl standing near him. Gun in hand. mourning.

He looked at her and guessed she was 17 -18 years old and had short dark blond hair that went to her shoulder blades with a nice pretty heart shaped face once you looked past the tears. Yet it didn't deter her beauty either way. Although her eyes were red-shot with crying he could tell she was a heterochromic and had a light blue eye on the left while the other was light green. She also has a slightly musclier physic than the average slim girl. He guessed she was 5 foot 7 and wore tight, yet flexible jeans and a red hoodie jacket.

He looked at the other survivors of the group and immediately noticed their closeness to one another. They also both had matching wedding rings and immediately concluded they were married.

He looked to the female who was in her early 20's and noticed her long brown hair, black eyes, heart shaped face with small love heart tattoo's to the left of her left eye. She too wore jeans and a black hoodie jacket with a gun holster by the belt. She appeared to be radiating a calm and caring demeanor towards Naruto.

'a parent', he assumed. He may not completely understand parental love being an orphan, but he at least knew how to identify it since he was always watching.

Looking towards her partner who stood beside her was male also into the early 20's. He had black messy hair with black eyes and was slightly tanned with a fairly good looking face. He was fairly built, but not overly so and wore short pants with multiple pockets and an all encompassing black hoodie. also around his belt there was a gun holster.

looking at their position he noticed their bags were by the generator. No doubt they were tired and taking this opportunity to rest. Deciding to be the first to speak he spoke in a more cheerful tone to in order to start good in their relationship.

"Uh... Hi i'm Naruto and I was wondering if you had any information on any safe places or communities I can join. I'm currently camping out in the city and would like a better place to live... hehehe".

'crap' Scout thought. He didn't actually plan out this meeting too well. Sure the original needed a new place to live and something productive to do, but the main reason was he was curious about survivors with him being from another dimension and all. All he wanted to do was actually find something to do. He was a warrior. A fighter. He fought for people precious to him. Right now he wanted hope. Something to move on from. Dwindling in the past wouldn't help anyone and was a disgrace to the sacrifices he made.

He however couldn't tell them that. Not yet anyway.

'Naruto, thats a weird name' Jason thought before looking at Cassandra to she if she would reply. She didn't so deciding to be the voice of the group for the moment he replied. "My name's Jason, That's Cassandra our primary leader," he pointed to Cassandra "and that's Julie, my wife" he responded naturally to the Blond. He wanted try to appear friendly at least. Why, cause he was suspicious of the blond

Jason was suspicious of the child. Who wouldn't be after all it just seemed to convenient. A new member looking for somewhere safe to stay and a child of all things. 'In all likelihood he could be some kind of hunter spy, still he's a child. He can't be that bad right? Sorry to pull this on you boy'?

"Before that where are your parents? Do you have any guardians? Another group of survivors perhaps? I doubt you survived this long by yourself". Jason spoke in a strict tone trying to goad information from the child. He'd notice any lie from the amount of experience he had with her daughter and he was still a child and children were always susceptible to those older than them. He couldn't be too careful, people usually paid the price for trusting too easily and this just seemed like one of those cases.

Scout unsure how to respond decided to provide half truths after all he didn't need to go into full detail of his arrival in this world. Also he could tell Jason was trying to goad him for information. He supposed it was for the good of the group and any loved ones he cherished.

"I'm an orphan and have survived on my own, recently I ended up in this city and am camping out in one of the tower buildings. I want to move somewhere with sane people. somewhere with refuge and where I'm needed".

Jason didn't seem to completely buy into it and maintained a stern expression with a critical eye hoping to scare him into giving more details. it Would have worked on any 6 year old, however he wasn't a normal 6 year old. He was a Shinobi. So trying to lighten the mood he laughed shyly.

"Our group comes from a good community. We accept nearly anyone, you just have to pull your weight and prove your reliable and trustworthy. Because of that we like to keep it safe. How can we trust you?" He replied. He didn't want to risk anyone at home and this convenience was just screaming suspicion.

Scout thought for a second. He needed somewhere safe to stay. Sure the private swimming pool was fairly safe but it was a short term answer. He wanted to meet people, to open up to cause living another life alone would really suck. Sure he got a map of safe zones and quarantine zones, he however didn't want to risk being shot at, found out and eventually be experimented on due to super powers.

He also didn't know much about them. The security forces could be hostile to strangers and he didn't want to travel cross country to find out the hard way. He needed to start small. Another reason was he doubted he'd be accepted in anyway. He was a kid. To them he would seem useless just be an extra mouth to feed, sure he could pull his weight but fear of the unknown can lead people to do stupid things.

For now he just wanted a nice little community. Some place to start fresh. Thinking about it this was probably the best chance he could get. He simply couldn't just knock on the door and say 'Hi I want to join'. so he had to make it in with this group.

It was the best way.

The only way.

He needed to persuade them. another opportunity like this won't present itself and he already had some leeway. They knew some of his skills and nothing on his Chakra powers. They knew he could be useful. Maybe he can bribe them with supplies, scavenge service and ammunition. If worse came to worse he could show his powers. He doubted he'd be reported to the 'authorities' they were scavengers after all. They appeared less organised and they seem to be fighting just to survive.

"I'm not sure how you can trust me completely, but I can help out. I have many supplies and can provide services such as scavenging. I've survived alone in this city swarming with infected and I saved you with those knives. sneaked past dozens upon dozens of infected, fought and killed some recently in this basement. You have nothing to lose" he replied in a fake desperation to play on their guilty conscience as well as their rational side of skill and power.

"I'm not sure. How can we know your not some kind of spy that would backstab us, like a spy from the hunters". he replied unsurely and slowly. It appears Naruto's little speech was getting to him.

"Darling we can't just leave him! He's only a child. We'd become like the hunters. Like monsters. Besides what would a hunter spy be doing out here alone, helping us survive and fighting infected alone nonetheless". Julie replied in a shocked tone to her husband. Jason was hurt. He understood where she was coming from, but he had to be safe.

"Yes. You can come with us. we owe you at least that much". This time the answer came from Cassandra. She was serious. He was just a kid, albeit a very strange one. Strong. Smart. Clever. Experienced. She didn't know how he could be all that at his age, but it was something interesting and she wanted to find out.

"Just so you know new members have to earn their keep. You won't be trusted at first. Everyone will be suspicious of you. Hell I'm suspicious of you but we could definitely use your skills and motivation. Also what kind of community would we be if we left a child in need to fend for themselves in a messed up world like this". She replied then continued.

"It's already late and there would be lots of activity in the sewers at night and according to the schematics we have of the city it would take us 5 hours of travel to reach the main sewerage chamber. From there it should be smooth travels. We should look around and find a suitable rest area for the night. We travel in the morning".

"Ok. I'll just go out and get my supplies". Scout replied in happy casual tone. No doubt due to being accepted into the group and the prospect of a fresh start elsewhere.

"No need, you shouldn't risk yourself just for some supplies, you can wait it out here".

"Don't worry I have a few abilities that helped me survive. I'll be back in the night"

"are you crazy. The infected are more ballistic at night, you'd die out there. You might also bring some of them with you"

"As I said I have some special abilities. Ill be back real soon. just mind my stuff".

"Oh really... Show us" Jason asked sarcastically. He doubted there were any real 'abilities' that would stave of the infected during the night, so he wanted to prove his point to the kid. why risk yourself needlessly after all.

Scout smirked. He really wanted to do this. It was too bad he wouldn't be able to see their reaction. "Ok watch very closely..." everyone watched him amused at what he would do. They were curious after all. Scout smirked when they were completely focused on him.

'Poof'

Back with Original Naruto. 3 hours prior to Scout dispelling

Naruto and a substitute bodyguard clone came back from recovering the materials and equipment left by Scavenger. They managed to avoid confrontation with the infected jumping from rooftop to rooftop with the occasional wall run. Using this method they easily collected the supplies and made it back to the hide out with no problems.

Naruto used his travel time to shift through the information gained from the Scavenger clone and learned a great deal of things with tactics and the infected. He was keen on trying the pistol while one hand held the rasengan. It was a good combination, but doesn't mean he won't change to the occasional kunai and double handed weaponry. Most importantly he finally had something more decent to wear even if it was just one piece it was better than what he had on now. The swimsuit was pretty loose and restrictive in combat and training and top it of the groin just felt exposed. However due to the great success of the scavenge he was in an extremely happy mood. Now he needed to get started on designs

In order to save time he dispelled his clone bodyguard and replaced him with another clone and set him to work redesigning the child's outfit consisting of nike shoes, loose pants, black hoodie and a blue shirt to be combat effective. Also by using the leather belts, gun holsters, fabric, fishing wire, metal wire and sewing materials he was required to create kunai/ knife holsters, small scroll holsters and a large scroll backpack holder. He figured he could rip apart the bag and redesign if for the the larger scroll if need be, after all the scroll was more important and could house far greater number of supplies.

Naruto on the other hand decided to create the storage scrolls. One big one which would be strapped to his back and 2 smaller ones. Scavenger was able to find rolling pins to improvise for the small scrolls body, while for the bigger scroll Scavenger improvised materials with 2 poster cylinder holders completely filled with posters to act as paper while he also took 2 similar sized silk rolls for the paper enhancement.

Using scissors, glue, tape and some sewing he got to work designing his makeshift scrolls. Upon completion of the big scroll the poster paper was sewed and lined with silk connected to the poster holder to act as the body, while the 2 smaller scrolls used rolling pins as the body and was sewed and glued with original paper and linned with swimwear fabric. The scrolls were makeshift, but he knew he could get them to work.

moving on the the next step he emptied the black ink cartridges out onto a small emptied ramen cup and mixed the ink with chakra enhanced blood. Stirring with the paint brush, he proceeded to paint seals onto the scrolls. It was estimated to take 2 hours or so for the big scroll while the small scrolls were around an hour each.

As expected the clone completed his work first while Naruto had just completed the large storage scroll and was beginning to work on the smaller one. Taking a break he decided to discard his old swimwear clothing and equip his combat clothing. Sure he might need a new pairs as he grew, but he'd worry about that later. for now he'll bask in his creation...uhh he meant clones creation. it took only a minute and he looked himself in the mirror. Overall he looked pretty badass. The blue shirt wasn't much different as it looked fairly o.k. and the only difference was the sewn shinobi alliance emblem with the 5 villages and land of iron symbol surrounding it right in the belly of the shirt. For the hoodie it held a nine tailed fox on the left breast with tails stretched out encompassing a third of the left arm. Other designs included inside sleeve pockets to store a knife or kunai and extra pockets to store emergency rations.

The pants also remained relatively the same except for extra pockets created inside.

Where the real progress was made was with the 3 Kunai holsters (see cover pic) which the inside was made leather using 5 hand gun holsters and was sewn and lined with steel thread. 1 gun holster remain unused so it can hold down an equipped pistol.

additionally the new scroll bag was completed (similar in pic except an additional leather base to prevent scroll sliding down) using several belts and sewn fabric. Surprisingly enough the backpack wasn't needed for material as so still held use.

He followed a similar design for the small scroll holsters except with only one small belt going through the middle. All in all equipment storage was complete.

Naruto decided to equip them, after all the clones replicated him and his clothing (Naruto is young with lower chakra reserves and doesn't have enough chakra to replicate weaponry yet. He may have the option in the future...).

Naruto himself was still completing the scrolls going through maintenance seals, storage seals, resistance seals and finally impact protection seals. Although these additions took away storage room the scroll needed to be fortified completely. He estimated the large scroll can hold up to 200 kg materials while the small ones could get away with 10 kg each. Still the storage potential was significant compared to bags and if he had time he could always improve them or create better one, once the proper material was found. This was evident in the elemental nations, a small storage scroll could hold up to 30 kg while the larger ones could hold up to 500 kg.

Deciding to put the spare clone to work he dispelled him gaining new skills and ideas in crafting. Then created another chakra enhanced clone as a replacement and ordered him to look for anything of value in the streets. He equipped him with the combat knife, pistol, 50 bullets with 5 magazines and a backpack. it was ordered to scavenge below while avoiding as much confrontation with the infected as possible. He had only one hour. It was nearly night.

Naruto briefly wondered what the Scout clone was doing.

An hour passed by and scavengers replacement clone got to work collecting whatever backpacks, supplies and weaponry he could get his hands on and returned it to base every time he was full. This process continued till the time limit was up. He wasn't completely successful in avoiding infected confrontation, but he only had few encounters where he had to put some down. So far he only exhausted 10 pistol bullets. In hindsight that didn't matter as he was collecting far more than the amount he shot

It was now sunset and night was fast approaching. It was far more dangerous now. the infected were more active at night. So far he had collected in his Arsenal

4 bags, 2 small backpacks and 2 large hiker class bags

3 extra M4 assault rifles with 4 magazines and 50 bullets

4 9 mm hand guns with

12 health kits

8 Molotov's

3 grenades

2 paper bundles numbering 200 pieces of A4 paper

20 Blades

18 Rags

10 Bindings

8 sugar

22 throwing knives

23 Alcohol

For food his collection ranged quite high and most pertained to canned food such as Tuna, baked beans, sardines and other non expired food. as well as cup ramen

He was done with his job so returning to base and placing his weapons back on the stockpile he dispelled.

Receiving the memory of scavenger 2, Naruto was pleased with the results. This city was loaded with goods. Then again that was likely since no one could enter due to the number of infected. Looking at the stockpile of goods he smiled at the results.

He had one more small scroll to complete, but suddenly Naruto received the memory of Scout clone. It was night and even though he had reinforcements of 2 clones. It was risky with infected more hyperactive at night. He didn't want to draw too much attention to himself. Still they were leaving early morning and he preferred to leave with them. He doubted another opportunity like this would present itself anytime soon.

With enough thinking he decided to go. so summoning 2 clone they gathered the supplies and scavenged the traps they set. Naruto himself began storing most supplies into the large scroll and some weaponry and bullets into the small scroll. It was done within 30 minutes and now it was early into the night. deciding to test sage mode again to feel out the condition of the city at night he set the 2 clones to guard him while he entered sage mode. It took 45 minutes, but he was able to enter it much sooner than the previous hour. He felt outwards and was shocked. He felt more feral and aggressive emotions from the infected as well as a greater depth of understanding. Did this mean at night they were slightly more intelligent? He also noticed dozens upon dozens converging on his position. As if they were more aware of him. Did that mean they had some sentient understanding after all or were they attracted to nature energy and chakra? There were far more present now than there was yesterday. This was something he needed to investigate.

Stretching out his senses again he noticed the infected in the building. There were hundreds in the staircase. It was packed. He was glad he chose to destroy it instead of reinforcing the door. He didn't like the idea of facing such a large horde in his weakened state.

Deciding he had enough he exited out of sage mode and thought of a quick plan. to meet up with the survivors. The top floors of the library was useless and the front entrance was the best bet to getting in and getting down to the basement safely. Fortunately one of the basics of ninjutsu can play a huge roll here. Kawimari (body replacement technique). He just had to go to the front entrance and replace himself with an inanimate object. Guess he can use shadow clones to distract the infected while he got in. It was a simple plan.

30 minutes later

Naruto had gotten into the Library with no hassle and thanks to the clones the infected were too distracted with them running around to notice him. It was really dark so he equipped the flashlight he got from the original scavenger and turned it on. he proceeded down staircase one, towards the basement unhindered.

ITEMS BEING BROUGHT

5 bags, 2 small backpacks and 3 large hiker class bags

M4 assault rifle = 5

Hand Guns = 10

M4 bullets = 270

M4 magazines = 8

9mm bullets = 112

9mm magazines = 22

Health Kit = 16

Molotov Cocktail = 9

grenades = 3

throwing knives = 22

kunai = 2

Blades = 30

Rags = 25

Bindings = 15

Sugar = 9

Alcohol = 23

some steel wire

30 food pills

20 blood pills

some bandages,

3 canteens of water

10 instant cup ramen elemental nations (He had lunch)

2 paper bundles numbering 200 pieces of A4 paper

2 cartridges of in

remaining bowl of ink and paintbrush

information on military and fireflies

For food his collection ranged quite high and most pertained to canned food such as Tuna, baked beans, sardines and other non expired food. as well as cup ramen. amount will be specified later chapters

Recipes Known:

Health Kit

Molotov Cocktail

Additional comments:

So how was the chapter? Originally they were to have arrived at the 'community' but you'll find out what community is soon. I encourage guesses. It may come out next chapter. Don't worry about OC's I have good plans for them.

Also when I post chapters I will most likely update the existing chapters down the road to improve it or make it more presentable while cleaning any errors in the story I can find. As you've noticed I'm rushing chapters out since my free time will be strained pretty soon and I tend to make errors in my rush. Thats why I'd like constructive reviews to fix anything bad down the road.

Also I'd like more reviews. helps me push to finish the story

if there is something you'd like to see please post it as a review and if I think its good I may add it. For now I have a general plot line for the story in my head and lots of free time to write it. I don't plan to abandon this story, EVER until i complete it so expect many updates.

I'm still new to writing fanfiction so please read and review with constructive critique. It helps you and me in the long run. I'd like to be almost pro when i get to the juicy bits of the game like the next few chapters and meeting Ellie and Joel with the start of their adventure and a good form of romance with Ellie, not planning anything to sappy or stupid.


	6. Chapter 6 To Community and Beyond

The Last of Naruto

I do not own Last of us or Naruto, that respect goes to Naughty Dog and Kishimoto respectively

I didn't have too much time to proof read so if there are errors point them out

Important early comments:

This chapter is mainly about travel to the community and what community it will be. I can tell you it played a good part in the game

If your wondering when the juicy bits start coming out, well it should be starting soon. All this OC and original idea is just a build up to another major turning point in Naruto's life.

Also if you could review if you liked it, didn't or there is something to improve it would be much appreciated since I'd like to know people actually this fic.

As I mentioned before I'm focusing on plot and trying to get as many chapters out as soon as possible so I most likely have a few grammatical error or errors in the story. just send a review or PM and I'll get to it straight away.

Also I'm not sure If I will publish tomorrow. I'll be making a start, but university comes first. Tuesday is free for me so If I don't publish monday, expect double or more tuesday. I publish as soon as possible because I was an addicted reader and hated waiting, now i'm moving to addicted writer and mainly publishing.

One Final thing. I need help in identifying cities in America that can name the one naruto is currently in. Ill probably come back and change the name anyway

The Last Of Naruto

Chapter 6: To Community and Beyond

Naruto stood outside the entrance of the basement in staircase 1 and prepared himself to push the metal bar and open the door. True he found Scouts prank to be hilarious and only wished he actually got to see their faces, but now Naruto had to face the music. Should he reveal his abilities to them or should he wait it out till negotiations with the community? Hell he didn't even know what type of community it was or where. He supposed revealing some of his abilities would be appropriate and in all likelihood he'd be much more greatly welcomed into the community after all someone reliable and strong would provide better protection and bring in more resources.

That was looking at things through one angle though. He first needed to know what they would think of him? Will they see this as an opportunity or will they react like the Konoha civilians and avoid him in fear of the unknown.

Naruto didn't want to waste a journey there only to be found he wasn't welcomed.

Thinking it over Naruto decided to experiment. He believed the best option was to reveal some of his secrets and powers, but not all after all he needed to keep aces up his sleeve. Depending on the reactions from the survivors he could make guess to the reaction of the community.

Naruto was confident that he would get in though. This was the apocalypse and anything that helps, helps. From that angle he supposed he'd be welcomed in a positive light.

Naruto POV

Opening the door I stepped into the room noticing the darkness. No doubt the generator was off. I aimed my head flashlight forward.

Where were the survivors?

I decided to move forward and to prevent getting wet I water walked. I looked forward again, then left, then right. I saw no sign of them. I decided there was only one course of action. I shouted "Hello... Cassandra. Julie. Jason. you there?" There was no response at first, then all of a sudden the sound of a lock and creaking door rang out in the basement.

"We're here on the left. A small storage room just past the generator and up a few steps. We found it behind a few book stands. Can you swim?" a female responded in a concerned voice. from the sound of it, it was Julie.

I responded confident in my next endeavor, "I'll be fine. I have a way around that problem. I'll meet you there". I then took steps forward using water walking while avoiding the usual carcass that floated eerily about.

I passed the generator. Jeff's body still there. Understandable since there was nowhere else to put him. It was a sad sight, a loved one no where to be buried or cremated. Just another body on the side walk.

I looked forward again and continued to move towards the room. I saw Julie who was standing by the open door stationed slightly above the water level. She looked shocked like she was seeing a ghost, oh right Scout clone disappeared and I water walked in front of her. It was actually quite funny thinking about it, messing with a survivors perception of reality.

It was time to talk to them and explain my situation. "uh... can I come in?"

Back to third person

Julie hesitated for a second then made way for Naruto to pass through. She had flabbergasted expression on face like she's just seen everything. It was comical to Naruto. 'totally worth it' he thought.

Naruto moved into the small room noticing it was surrounded with tables, chairs and filing cabinets pilled upon one another. Most likely to make space for the makeshift camp.

Naruto observed further and taking note of the small fire in a bucket and an air duct right above the room. Awfully convenient for the survivors and as usual in no windows. He noticed Cassandra and Jason siting by the bucket as if it was a campfire momentarily pausing their dinner to stare at Naruto. To stare with narrowed eyes. eyes of suspicion and eye's that spoke I don't trust you.

To Jason, Cassandra and the newly joined Julie who although was still stumped at what she saw now had enough sense to move and closed the door. They noticed Naruto's new attire up front. A hoodie that held a nine tailed fox on the left breast with tails stretched out encompassing a third of the left arm and a pair of fairly loose pants.

Naruto sighed. He supposed suspicion was reasonable reaction and could have gone a hell lot worse. They had the right to be suspicious. No form of internal or external power was controlled by these people. They were all civilians who had no knowledge of Chakra. Naruto decided he needed to come clean with some things. to test the waters. To check if he had a shot in a community.

Naruto POV

I sighed and responded seriously "I guess I should tell you more about myself, but you should go first. I want to know where we're going and what your community is like. Is it hostile to unknowns? am I just wasting my time following and talking to you?"

"I think the better question to start of with is how'd you disappear?" Jason said firmly trying to goad information out of naruto yet again.

"I said it was one of my abilities. Also I don't know you too well and I don't trust any of you yet. We are vastly different and have seen different things... But my desire still stands. I want in on a community where I can build a life. Start fresh. I have many things to offer. Dangerous service. Food. Medicine. Weapons. I need to know now if I can be accepted or I should walk away..." Internally i sighed. Phew that's one of the most serious speeches I ever said in my entire life and they don't even know it.

No one said anything and I waited for their response. Cassandra was the first to speak up in a casual voice "As Jason and I said. As long as you aren't dead weight to the community and won't back stab us or cause problems. We'd accept you. Your a kid. A special mysterious kid, but we all have our secrets".

"So I can join up?" I questioned

"Yeah if you prove yourself. which shouldn't be a problem for you"

*phew* "I didn't actually know what to do if I was rejected. So with that all over lets get to know each other. I was already planning to tell you about my abilities, but I wanted to be sure first".

Jason was the one to talk next "I think you should start first. You may be a kid, hell a good kid even but we are the ones running the risk. We don't know you, you could be a danger to the community, to us for all we know "

"Fine... Fine. I can't tell you everything, but I will tell you what you need to know and it should satisfy you. Push me then expect consequences". Naruto replied firm and serious

"Ok... where to start... Well I came to this world just yesterday". "wait, what? World? You look human. You saying you're not? we're not idiots you know" Jason responded in an almost condescending tone. Looks like he's pissed over the stunt I pulled.

"I didn't say I was or wasn't. At the moment I have no idea if I'm the former or the latter. But that's not important right now. Whats important is that I'm trying to satisfy you with answers to show you I mean you no harm. I ughhh… come in peace? heheheh".

"Damn hell it's not important right now. Of course its important do you know what you implied. You implied you're an aliens". He relied exasperated and annoyed. He probably though I was going a roundabout way to hide the truth and he was clearly loosing patience. In hindsight I should have planned what I said more thoroughly...*sigh* too late now.

"Look I'm alone and I can be of help. Here's the thing I'd rather not live alone surrounded by infected for company. I know some locations of quarantine zones and safe zones. Currently it would be a nuisance traveling there and I don't want to find out what the military would do if they found me. They could just shoot me for all I know. I might just be another mouth to feed to them. Also if they found out about me I could end up being on the run for the rest of my life. You have an organised community. I'll take my chances with you".

Cassandra responded. "I guess I can see where your coming from. But how can we tell your not from around here. This could be some kind of ploy, after all you hold yourself in such a high regard and aliens, seriously,... that seemed extremely farfetched. Furthermore your intelligent and intelligence is always tricky to deal with". She too was serious and it showed in her demeanor. Clearly Cassandra has mellowed out since the death of Jeff. Guess people in this world learn to adapt quickly.

Thinking over what she said i let out another *sigh*. I've been sighing a lot lately. Maybe because this was one hell of a sticky situation.

I figure the best way.

The only way to convince them was to perform something no one could do.

Jutsu's.

I thought over all the jutsu I knew and could perform and began weighing which ones were best to show off to get the point across. I decided on 2 actions to do this. The obvious choice to show was fuinjutsu simply because I'm carrying 1 large scroll and 2 smaller scrolls and they know I left to collect 'supplies'. As such they would want to know where the supplies were.

I couldn't say he never got them and changed clothes instead, it would just raise more suspicion reducing my likelihood of integrating into the community. Besides if I came to the point of negotiating with the community or combat I'll have to pop out items anyway. Also there was still the final storage scroll to finish. I need to do that soon. So it was easy to come to the decision showing fuinjutsu. Better do it now rather than later after all.

The next jutsu to show was either the rasengan or the shadow clones. Showing the rasengan had the advantage of not only keeping the shadow clones as the counter ace in the hole, but I could show its destructive potential proving he was strong and reliable to them. The down side was he wasn't completly sure it would satisfy them, besides he may just end up giving away his shadow clone ability in the future if they were in tight spots. He could also easily just keep the rasengan as an ace and focus on weaponry. So I leaned more into keeping it as the ace of my arsenal.

The shadow clone however had the advantage of likely convincing them of not only being from another place or time, but also being extremely useful after all an ability to replicate a strong copy which couldn't be infected would find much application in risky ventures where risk can be taken out. It would ensure complete success and survival.

Also they might ask for the what trick he did when he disappeared. I can easily resolve that issue now by showing the Shadow clone move.

I decided upon the shadow clone as a means of proof so I prepared himself. "The best way to prove that I'm right would be to show you my abilities". Putting my fingers together in a cross shaped seal I shouted "Shadow Clone Jutsu". Using a large portion of my Chakra I maxed out 2 shadow clones that stood behind me with smirks on their faces.

"This is my shadow clone technique. it allows me to replicate solid copies of myself". For now I decided to hold back any more detail like their dispelling and memory ability or the total number I can create.

The three other occupants in the room were shocked, flabbergasted or whatever word can be used to describe them. Their jaws were hanging open and they were stood still as if they were recently petrified. No one spoke for half a minute. I just waited for them to recover. Still it was fun to watch. I just wished I brought a camera.

Cassandra was the first one out of her petrification shortly followed by Julie. They both moved forward unbelieving of the new development, believing it was just some form of illusion. I scoffed at that though after all illusion clones did exist and were mainly used by low reserve chakra users.

I saw them approach my clones. They both reached out slowly as if expecting their hands to pass through. I got annoyed at how slow they were. I still had stuff to do like show them fuinjutsu and complete the last storage scroll. Sure I won't sleep much, but I was a Shinobi. I was built no minimise the need to sleep to 4 hours a day. Any more spent was usually due to recovery.

Deciding to play a practical joke, I looked to the clones and nodded to them. They got the message. All of a sudden the clones moved and caught their out stretched arms by the wrist. As expected they let out a girlish yelp's and comically fell backwards on their butt, dragging the clones and forcing them to land on top of them. It was comical sight and although I missed seeing their reactions when Scout dispelled, this was a good replacement. I giggled and so did Jason.

After a few moments I spoke up, struggling to stifle my giggles. "You done yet? I want to move on, there's one last thing I can show you and If that ability wasn't enough to convince you I could be of great help to the community, then I'm sure this last one will take the cake".

"Just how is this possible!?" Julie spoke up standing up once again, recovering from her fall.

I let out a *sigh* and responded "do you really want me to go through the theoretical details now? I think it would be best if I finished what I have to show. Got to finish doing some stuff that would probably interest you".

"Ok... whatever you did, I totally buy into you being an alien and all. The implications of such an ability in this world now is unfathomable". She replied in a surprised and hopeful voice. I figured she was going over ideas of me doing scavenge runs while not risking death. She was totally right.

Jason decided to voice his opinion "That is a totally badass move you have. Its cool and all but how does that help?"

I looked at Jason with an eye that just spoke idiot. He noticed and his facial features changed to a scowl. most likely there was a tick mark in their somewhere. "look my clones can seriously help you guys out. Today I sent a Scout clone to help you guys out. As you can see your still alive and I'd say it was a success. Also just for the record he or rather I wasn't only here, because at the same time i had a clone scavenging through the mall for supplies. Anything that hits or hurts them enough will just cause them to disappear while I remain at my 100%". Jason seemed to contemplate what I said and seemed to be searching for possible applications of my ability. I put him under the Sold list.

interrupting my musings Cassandra spoke up. "You said you had one more ability you can show us that will definitely bargain your way into the community. Can you show us".

Smiling brightly at that I decided to take out the completed small scroll holstered on my side and began unrolling it ninja style. Channeling chakra onto the scroll I decided to take out an M4 as well as a handgun.

*poof* they came out and levitated in the air for a bit which was enough time to re -roll the scroll ninja style, put it back in my holster then grab each weapon by one hand. All this happened in the span of less than 3 seconds.

I looked at them and let out a few giggles at their dead fish imitation. I couldn't help but say "I wished I had a camera, you should see yourself right now".

Julie was the first to respond "well sorry. But what your doing is simply defying the laws of nature. Who wouldn't be lost for words". She was right. All they had working for them was remnant technology and intelligence. Still I decided upon a retort.

"Me being here is defying the law of nature. I'm not sure if I'm from the past, future, another planet or another dimension".

now Cassandra and Jason broke out of their situational muse. Jason spoke up "so that scroll on your back is full of useful items". He questioned "yes" was my reply, "is it possible for us to use it", "no". "Well why not" he replied in a more angry voice. My simple reply was "you don't have the ability to do so". I didn't bother telling them that I put multiple types of protection seals on them which included blood seals, anti impact seals, trauma seals, elemental resistance seals and so much more, after all making storage scrolls was never easy. Many things had to be taken into account. Thats why civilians used paper while ninja used scrolls lined with different forms of seals.

Deciding one last push, just to start a good friendship I said "as you can tell I don't have a backpack, but rather a large scroll. I have several things stored inside. food, medicine, weapons and other useful things. With my abilities and this I plan to either convince, bribe or using both to get into the community. I just want somewhere where I can start fresh. Some bad things happened at home. Really bad things, and I don't think i'll ever find a way back. I just want to start somewhere. Your community is my best bet".

For a few moments everyone was quiet. "Well you definitely sold us and with what you can do and your potential, you'll most likely be accepted into the community. We were initially here with a group of 12 for a supply run since supplies are running low. From what I heard and see you do, you might just be the difference we need to survive this world". Cassandra spoke in a caring manner. I suppose she was interested with my past, but she seemed to know the time and place for such touchy subjects.

I can respect that.

So far things were going good and as planned they were completely sold to what I could do and give, while at the same time I maintained the essential secrets as aces up my sleeve.

'Aces up my sleeve'. I thought for a moment and remembered the bite. Apparently this pandemic was fungal and viral from what I learnt off the Scavenger clone. I figured it was best I came clean with that in the morning after all they might loose sleep now if I told them. Best to do it in the morning. I was pretty sure I wasn't infected cause I could feel my blood breaking down the fungal virus as soon as it made contact with me. This was probably due to my chakra enhanced blood mixed with what remained of kyubi's corrosive Chakra.

I was essentially an immune to everything.

"Ok I answered your questions and I believe I satisfied you with an answer. I won't give any more personal details till I get to know you lot more. Personal stuff after all. Now its your turn to answer my question. Is your community Hostile to unknowns? Where are we going? What is it like?" I began questioning after all it was my turn to seek knowledge and they seemed to trust me more that they knew at least something about me and my goals.

As leader of the group, 'excluding me being the guest party member', Cassandra spoke up "as mentioned our community isn't directly hostile since we house women, children and elderly who can't support themselves, however they are still required to help out in what way they can".

I looked at her with at her with a questioning gaze wondering why this was important and she seemed so serious about this in particular.

"Why this is important you ask well thats simple, a week ago, close to our vicinity there is another group of survivors we call Hunters who are comprised of very horrid people that essentially killed of the military personnel and drove them away from Pittsburgh. Its now an independent quarantine zone. They currently follow a system where the strongest survives and maintain that policy by killing sick, elderly and even children to optimise their group and resources. They live close to our vicinity but don't know we are there simply cause we're well hidden and no one is ballsy enough to risk looking through the place".

She took out a map and placed it over one of the ground. kneeling down i watched as she pointed at a city on the map called 'fanfiction city' (made up city, I'm Australian and this is in America. I don't know much about cities and the skyscrapers they hold and Im not sure which real city close by I can choose. Anyone have any ideas either review or PM me).

"We're currently here *points to fanfiction city* and we need to travel here at the outskirts of the city of Pittsburgh, near the Ohio river *points*. Then following the river via the sewers, we will travel down southwest towards the community". she said informatively (Again I only know Australian geography).

"Wait you said you are well hidden and yet live close to another hostile community. Where is it you live exactly?" Naruto replied curious. He had some idea where they lived, but wanted to confirm it.

"We live in the sewers connected to the Depot public works. Not many people know its there so its relatively safe, its well fortified with few entrances and exits along with local guards posted. Its because of its location that we don't have direct confrontation with hunters. They probably figured the sewers would be crawling with infected by now and that there's likely nothing to scavenge there since its sewers. We however have made it home and now its thriving as a community of over 150 individuals. It may not look like much but it is safe. The only issue is supplies so we send people out to scavenge, of course as far away from the hunters as possible so as to not rouse suspicion. With you on our side however we may be able to do that with less risk and fewer losses on our part" she informatively supplied.

I took in her words in like a sponge. The community sounded interesting and even if I wasn't accepted I want to just go and see it. Just for the hell of it. I am curious in meeting more people of this world and hopefully make new friends.

Accepting her response I stood back up while she put away her map into her bag. "Ok I think thats all I need for now. You lot should get some sleep, I still have stuff to complete and don't require as much sleep as you". I responded. I may not be the leader of this group, but I required them to remain in good shape. I wanted to make it to the community after all and these people were the best shot at it.

The other three nodded not questioning my mechanics of sleep. It was pretty late as it is and any more questions can be dealt with in the morning.

As they prepared to sleep on the hard rock for the night I silently as possible took out the uncompleted sealing scroll, the cup ramen of ink and paint brush and began drawing up seals for the next hour on the hard concrete floor. Cassandra however was curious and stayed up to watch. Noticing her curiosity I questioned calmly.

"Something you'd like to know?"

"I was just curious on what you were doing, you're writing squiggly lines that can defy nature and the natural order. Who wouldn't be curious?" I supposed she was right, from her angle this would be something to watch. Deciding to entertain her I chose to tell her more on the art.

What harm could come with her knowing? She couldn't do it, nor could she operate any seals he made. It was fairly safe.

"What I'm doing is fuinjutsu, the art of seals. Seals are simply outlines designed with a purpose mixed with Chakra, the energy I use. To make the complicated seals I'm creating now I mix chakra enhanced blood into the ink then begin drawing with purpose." I looked to her momentarily stopping fuinjutsu and saw her paying rapt attention to every word I said. I continued.

"In order to make a sealing scroll, the scrolls I use to store items and what not, I require of course an empty scroll. Then using the special ink I begin drawing seals of all kinds to maximize the potential of the scroll. Such seals include of course the sealing seal, blood seals, elemental resistance seals, trauma seals, preservation seals, impact seals, emergency seals and so much more to improve upon its lifespan, defense and storage. Of course there are many designs to seals and there are multiple ways to draw a seal to reach the conclusion. Any mess ups and you could end up hurt to dead.

"Wait so there are all types of seals that can be used for all kinds of things, some even with passive effects?" she questioned. She was clearly interested. "Yes, there are multiple seals that are passive" I responded. She brightened up at that

"Then you can create seals that can help the community, like the impact seal you mentioned. That prevents impact damage right?" again I responded

"Yes and Yes, I can help the community in that regard, but I'm not a seal master. Yet anyway. Besides It will take time for me to bunker down and learn to draw seals designed for the situation and I'll have to be careful with every advance I make. I currently only know how to draw on paper and fabric, elsewhere like clothing isn't possible yet as different surfaces need different seals and designs and so on and so forth. Everything has to be taken into account". I said informatively again while continuing on my seal making. Cassandra slightly deflated at that.

"Do you have any seals on medical applications, like healing the sick or dying?". Confused as why she asked that I immediately linked it to helping the sick or elderly in the community. In hindsight that was probably not the conclusion I should have thought up with.

"There is a possibility for them and their development, but where I'm from I haven't heard of anything like that. Then again seal masters were extremely rare. The only one I knew alive was my teacher Jiraiya. Also we had medic -ni... medics that used jutsu to analyse, heal sick and wounded, I however don't know where to start learning that and would have to backtrack from what I've observed" I responded, almost faltering at the near slip up of my profession.

Again she deflated

I internally sighed. I was always a sucker for sad, depressed and morbid and even if she has mellowed out since the death of Jeff, her substitute uncle of sorts, I still wanted to cheer her up. She looked beautiful that way. Deciding to change the subject I delved deeper into detail of scrolls.

"Scrolls were also used as a means of transportation through summoning" (Iruka Chunnin exams and toads), she looked at me and intelligently responded "what?"

"Scrolls were primarily used for storage. Summoning was also another use and through blood contracts you can summon an aid of a creature or familiar" I continued.

"Did you have a summon?" she responded trying to satiate her curiosity. "Yes", "what did you summon?", "toads"... "That actually sounds a bit dull". My eye twitched at that comment.

I was momentarily stunned by that, but then again I was somewhere new and the toads they know could be different. I questioned her in that regard hoping to envoke my pride in the toads "Are your toads able to talk and grow up to and over 20 stories tall while using Jutsu?"

She was perplexed at the thought. I internally smirked. One point to me.

We continued for an hour and half talking back and forth about likes, dislikes, dreams and hobbies and as usual I continued to talk more and more about jutsu, fuinjutsu and chakra, even explaining the basic concepts to her from what I remembered in the academy. She had asked how I knew so much as a 6 year old and knowing I couldn't escape that question I just told her that I was actually a 17 year old and through some mishap on how I got here I turned back into a 6 year old. She actually took the information in stride, after all I did show her some wacky things yesterday.

As a shinobi I should have held back on the information, but it was nice to talk to someone normally and she just exuded an aura of trust and care. I was coming to like her and see her as a friend. It was nice to finally have someone again in my life. It may not have been long since the elemental nations, but that time is over and I had to start somewhere. I started with her.

It was now early morning. It was hard to tell with no windows, but my biological clock was telling me it was so I woke up early to prepare for the trip to the community. Everyone was still asleep, they all let their guard down around me, guess they were starting to trust me. It made happy inside knowing I was getting somewhere.

I proceeded to wake everyone up and they grumbled under their breath about early mornings. We had to leave soon so we gathered our supplies and prepared. We had a quick breakfast using some instant noodle cups I collected and had small talk before we readied ourselves for the journey ahead. Cassandra handed me Scouts bag and weapons which I had actually forgotten about as well as Jeff's belongings to seal into the scroll. It was trust gesture on their part and since we are going to be traveling and fighting together it was a good move. Now I had to prepared myself.

It was time to tell them I am Immune.

"Cassandra, Jason, Julie". They all stopped their small talk and weapon adjustments to look at me with curious interested eyes. I decided to beat around the bush a bit before I get my point across.

"You know I'm different right." they nodded "having different abilities and potential biology" they nodded again, but slowly this time as if being cautious on this revelation. I gulped and hoped they wouldn't be entirely pissed.

I pulled up my left arm showing as a bite on my arm, slightly healed over. They gasped. I responded quickly to avoid any misinterpretations, "I was bitten close to 2 days ago and with my biology, natural healing and energy I am immune to virtually all sickness. That includes the pandemic infection".

for a few moments they stood defensively as if preparing for his eventual turn until they relaxed. Cassandra then spoke up. "With all you've shown and taught us, that is actually more believable than anything else. Hopefully the doctors can take a look back in the community and hopefully find a vaccine. Although highly unlikely since we still doubt your human". I nodded. I was slightly pissed that they still thought I was a weird alien and not a human. I am a human, or at least was defined as one in the elemental nations and I am not a monster. Woops, bad memories. But I suppose alien does sound better than monster.

Now that everything was out of the way it was time to move on.

TIME SKIP... APPROACHING COMMUNITY

third person POV

The group had spent the better part of the day traveling to get to the community in the sewers near Pittsburgh city. The travel there had only a few mishaps with infected while they continued to travel through the sewers. There were however times the sewer tunnel was impassible and they had to go around and find another way. There were a few problems there since the surface was usually crawling with infected, however with the intervention of Naruto and his 2 clones the fights were easily successful. They were even able to scavenge additional supplies on the way.

There were conversations during the calm period and one significant conversation featured about how the infection came to be. This interested Naruto since he was new didn't know. Apparently the fungus originated in South American crops and was a mutated version of the fungus Cordyceps which originally targeted insects. This version now affects humans infecting the brain while destroying brain cells resulting in erased memories and increasing aggression as it spreads.

Naruto also found out the infected are also actual living hosts, however nothing can be done upon its spread since if removed it will kill the host regardless. He also learnt that upon infection there are 5 main stages, (1) Runner; (2) Stalker; (3) Clicker; (4) Bloater; (5) Spore Cadaver.

Another tibit of information was the reactions from the public. It had been catastrophic with the fungus in control of the majority of the population. It spread world wide and caused the collapse of the governmental system resulting in widespread violence, especially enforced due to the failure of the military to contain the spread.

Due to the continual censorship of information and near extinction of humanity a group known as the Fireflies, a militia group thay was developed in response to the oppression sought out cure to the outbreak. This was something he appreciated, however even he knew helping them directly was out of the question. Although a cure may or may not be found in his blood. It was the fact his blood was different and expelled any foreign entities since it is enhanced with physical and spiritual energies. His body just kills the fungus the moment it enters. Additionally he couldn't risk the potential of Chakra coming out. Although he hated Madara he was right about one thing.

People were destructive when it came to power.

The sage wanted to 'connect' everyone spiritually in which they could understand each other, reach each others hearts. Instead they weaponized the connection and developed chakra for warfare. He couldn't risk that. The planet couldn't handle that.

Another thing he was updated on was the quarantine zones. Some quarantine zones still remained functional with military control and order which he dubbed 'safe zones', however some zones had been over- run with infected while others were independent in which case revolted against the military and pushed them out. Pittsburgh was just a recent one.

Naruto was brought out of his musings when Cassandra and Jason slightly moved a rectangular garbage bin on wheels to reveal a manhole in the alleyway. He looked around and specifically noticed the alleyway had only 1 entrance, having to crawl under tones of debris and broken down furniture which was most likely put there as a deterrent. The small opening in the alley was crammed only barely fitting all 4 members in. He looked up and noticed the overhead was also covered with plastic to prevent onlookers and maintain privacy.

"Ok this is the place, just so you know this is the only entrance in the entire town. Early in the years we blocked of all other potential entrances and manholes to stave of infected and curious hunters. There is only 2 more entrances, one through the beachfront sewerage pipe system, but the entryway is a bit difficult to go through and the Depot public works front entrance. Just keep that in mind" She supplied informatively.

Naruto nodded accepting the information.

a few moments later they disappeared down the manhole while Jason pulled the garbage bin on wheels from bellow to cover the overhead and slipped the manhole cover back on.

The group moved on towards the community. He looked around and noticed the passageway was extremely narrow with only one person at one time able to venture through, no doubt to filter any infected or hunters running along. It appears the community took every bit of caution to protect themselves from potential threats. Good move.

As they got closer Naruto noticed a door up ahead. Cassandra in front of the group approached it and opened it.

NARUTO POV

When we entered through the door I noticed several things. Firstly the passageway was significantly bigger, it was dimly lit and there was a platform on the other side with 8 people pointing assault rifles, hunting rifles and handguns at our group, clearly a checkpoint of sorts. I quickly adjusted my stance in preparation for a fight, however it wasn't necessary. The people began to lower their guns and Cassandra, Julie and Jason walked up to them and began talking.

I was silent and observing carefully listening in on anything important.

I took this as an opportunity to look around and get to know my surroundings better. It was still a sewerage passageway, however It was a lot bigger than the one we previously traveled through, several times bigger. I noticed there was a small camp fire on the other side of the room dimly lighting the passageway and of course the elevated platform. I looked around some more and noticed a sign. It read

HOUSE RULES

- make sure doors are locked

- ask for password if you don't know visitor

- no shouting or noisy play

- run to hiding spot when you hear alarm

I looked around again and noticed some of the guards, 2 females and 1 male looking at me with curiosity while Cassandra continued her recount of the scenario. Eventually one of the female guards fell to her knee's and started crying.

Poor girl.

It didn't take much to put 2 and 2 together. She was escorted away by another guard further down the sewer passageway until she was no longer in sight.

I waited patiently while the others talked and Cassandra finishes recounting her side of the events, even mentioning me, my involvement, my abilities, condition and my desire to live here. The man, 45 or so he estimated let out a bellow laugh while the female guards giggled and the male were smirking holding it back, no doubt at the preposterous allegations she made. She, Julie and Jason however remained absolutely still and serious. The guards eventually noticed this and stopped.

The 45 year old man who was acting leader of the squad approached me and knelt down to my eye level with a friendly smile, trying to be as kind and friendly to me as possible. I had to bite beck a laugh, this guy was clearly a parent and experienced when it came to children. I looked up to the guards then my group gauging their reactions.

I noticed the guards. 2 female 3 male. They looked at me with caring eye's, this truly was a community that cared for its less able, children and elderly. I looked at my group and they were struggling in holding back their laughter. My right eye twitched in annoyance. *sighing* I looked back to the man kneeling down, patiently waiting for me to refocus my attention. That earned him points in my book. The man began introducing himself.

"Hi there little guy, my names Danny, what's yours?"

I let out a smirk, "I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze"...

Additional comments:

So how was the chapter? They have arrived at the 'community' and its the sewer system and Depot public works Ellie and Joel travelled through. Also so you know the suburbs aren't Hunter territory yet and are actually crawling with infected. Why? simply put the hunters are consolidating power after expelling the military a week ago. I'm not sure when they forced the military out, but if its different that what I said please pm me or review and I'll update the mistake asap.

*Important* as a heads up I might go back and change Naruto's swimwear to an all encompassing child spandex swimsuit. Why I decided on this. Well I thought over Naruto's wound covered in bandages was a terrible dead giveaway and I had them ignore it. My mistake so I was wondering if there were any swimwear that could of hid it, you know long sleeves. Then I remembered all encompassing spandex swimwear and I could make a link to Lee and Guy in the past reflection. Does this change anything. No, just what he wore in the past. This change won't take place for a while since I'm aiming to push chapters out as fast as I can for the moment.

*important* I don't know much about US cities since I live in Australia and all, If someone can find an appropriate replacement city close by Pittsburgh which is real and has skyscrapers and such please PM me or send in a review. I don't want to waste time researching.

When I post chapters I will most likely update the existing chapters down the road to improve it or make it more presentable while cleaning any errors in the story I can find. As you've noticed I'm rushing chapters out since my free time will be strained pretty soon and I tend to make errors in my rush. Thats why I'd like constructive reviews to fix anything bad down the road.

Also I'd like more reviews. helps me push to finish the story

if there is something you'd like to see please post it as a review and if I think its good I may add it. For now I have a general plot line for the story in my head and lots of free time to write it. I don't plan to abandon this story, EVER until i complete it so expect many updates.

I'm still new to writing fanfiction so please read and review with constructive critique. It helps you and me in the long run. I'd like to be almost pro when i get to the juicy bits of the game like the next few chapters and meeting Ellie and Joel with the start of their adventure and a good form of romance with Ellie, not planning anything to sappy or stupid.

ITEMS BEING BROUGHT AND SUPPLIES

5 bags, 2 small backpacks and 3 large hiker class bags

M4 assault rifle = 7

M4 bullets = 320

M4 magazines = 8

9 mm Hand Guns = 11

9mm bullets = 224

9mm magazines = 22

Health Kit = 19

Molotov Cocktail = 11

grenades = 3

throwing knives = 22

kunai = 12

1 kunai with explosive note

18 food pills

20 blood pills

5 canteens of water

Blades = 30

Rags = 25

Bindings = 15

Sugar = 9

Alcohol = 23

some steel wire

38 food pills

40 blood pills

some bandages,

4 canteens of water

2 paper bundles numbering 200 pieces of A4 paper

2 cartridges of ink

remaining bowl of ink and paintbrush

information on military and fireflies

For food his collection ranged quite high and most pertained to canned food such as Tuna, baked beans, sardines and other non expired food. as well as cup ramen. amount will be specified later chapters

Recipes Known:

Health Kit

Molotov Cocktail


	7. Chapter 7 The Arc of Truth part 1

The Last of Naruto.

*Important note*, I just recently found today more information about the community through artefacts you were meant to collect in the suburbs via walkthrough and noticed only a few discrepancies that will affect my story, so I changed Cassandra from fortifying the community to that of a survivor group looking for refuge and coming across Ish, Kyle and Susan in the sewers and water works depot somewhere in chapter 4. So far that's pretty much it any more I find in previous stories I will update it and mention it either here or next story.

*important note* I changed Scott to Danny instead, why? Cause there was a kids drawing of him and I want to work with few OCs as possible as well as making the community more interesting and interactive.

*important note* sorry I was late and will only upload one chapter today, why cause I learnt new things about the sewers recently and have adjusted my story to fit it. I tried to find a map of the sewers but couldn't so I watched a walkthrough and drew what I saw up. I'll post it on my profile page later

*important note* several people have addressed good questions in their review and I have answered most below, If I missed one PM me so I'll answer using my logic next chapter or update. Also I'm not afraid to admit I messed up and if I did I'll go back and fix it.

*important note* I'll be looking at past chapters and doing updates soon, either now or in the week. Also I am doing this to improve my communication in English so I'm learning on the go so I won't use BETA's, but on the plus sde for you readers I publish my stories straight away so you don't have to wait long.

Reviews and LOGIC NOTES OF AUTHOR

Fenerath:

Yay it's great to hear from you, I loved your fic Fade to Blacklight, but am also really pissed that you don't update it enough. I remember waiting in August last year for an update and cheering for joy this January when one came out. Still I loved your fic and it is one of my bests, I hope more comes out later though even though Naruto is ridiculously overpowered. Now onto the review.

You said why I didn't cover in detail on how he got there. Reason as a reader I tended to ignore how the war went. You can use your imagination and besides the manga is updating and changing the scenario constantly so if it does finish I may go back. But most likely won't, why because after the Neji died scene everything started to suck in the manga like seriously Obito redemption and helping them out now, Karin and chakra chains? Way to ruin my Naruto mood, so I leave it up to readers to decide what led to Kurama getting extracted (probably second time) and his arrival into the Last of Us universe, could even be Kami's intervention for all I care. For me I tend to skip how he got to the new dimension and why and just start reading the scenario after all manga isn't turning out as great as Naruto use to be. Also I tend to skip such things and jump into the scenario. I'm simply doing the same here. You decide how he gets there.

As for the Moon eye plan, I thought of the best response. The moon eye plan was to create a world where every dream can be achieved and the perfection form of a happy Illusion… A perfect world… Now let's compare a perfect world to The Last of Us universe. I think you get the idea that infected is definitely not part of that world.

You also mentioned his ability to speak and read, yea let's just go with Naruto universe speaking English and as for reading, I guess I kind of jumped the gun there, but I sure am not changing that. This fic relies on communication and it would be hell changing it now. So as I mentioned in the second chapter, it was a side effect of the travel and just chalk it up to it. Sorry but a non-English speaking Naruto in an infected America would be an extremely hard fic to write, something I won't do, maybe someone else can, but I'd find it hard to generate the atmosphere of the game if he has trouble communicating.

Also about the pairing with Ellie, this is not going to be some shotty romance where she eventually bows to Naruto's whim. It would be a more situational and slow romance and more of a side focus of the story. Truth be told I have other better focuses than romance and am more interested in trying to get the feeling of the game across, I'm thinking of changing the genre to action, but I'm still deciding. Also you should know I didn't de age him for Ellie and romance specifially. I actually wanted to develop a slight father to son relationship with Joel while at the same time getting to see the world first before meeting him which would be a couple chapters down the road.

Ricky12440:

Thanks for the review and yes thanks for the limitation idea with energy consumption I will definitely add that in. I was also going to use time as a constraint since he will have to decide between helping and training as well as what is he training in, but that's for later chapters, like probably the next one…

As for hunters you are right but not all the way. Sure there are multiple groups, factions even but hunters are what I assume is the same as bandits in meaning and is describing something rouge, unpredictable and dangerous as a whole, like a profession. True Cassandra says hunters but she was addressing a select group of a faction of hunters, specifically the newly identified hunters of Pittsburgh. Still thanks for telling me and I'll keep that in mind when I edit past chapters or make new ones.

As for paragraphs and speaking I see what you mean and I will put more paragraphs in when someone quotes something. I'll be going back to re-edit soon, probably start as soon as I release this after all I still have to fix up fanfiction city (although I think it's a cool name)

As for Point Of View I understand what you mean, however I think it's the best way to generate the feeling the game gave off. Sticking to 3rd person would eventually feel too much of a generic story and I want to try spice thing up, sure I make mistakes but I plan to go back and learn from them. Also to tell you the truth I suck at English and am taking this as an opportunity to train and improve after all I focus mainly in mathematics now. As such I need to do as many techniques as possible to improve my communication skills and fanfiction with you guys as reviewers is my favourite way to do it.

Also when you said it is by the far best fic in the crossover, you do know there is only one other fic in the crossover that doesn't follow my kind of sequence of events. I'd say there isn't much competition in the first place lol.

Arashi Uzukage:

Why waste his kunai, simple it was more of a situational thing. Firstly Scout clone is a clone and isn't expected to live long even when enhanced with chakra. As such he can't afford to dispel and lose all his items. There is a horde of infected approaching the survivors and kunai throwing is the best thing he has. So he uses it losing them down below in the process and he doesn't collect them since there is a horde down there. Also he used paper bombs, no doubt most of those kunai are now damaged and destroyed.

When the original makes his way to the library it is night time and I made the infected during this time more active. There is a horde of infected outside the library and he is not the super powered Naruto we all know and he lacks in the power department a bit. If he collects he would be over run and eventually killed. Also he has enough supplies and is more concerned about making it to the survivors. Besides who says he won't scavenge them back in the future…

RadBrad fan: Totally agree with you I'm loving his walkthroughs and he has the best commentary

The Last of Naruto

Chapter 7: The Arc of Truth part 1

_Previously on the last of Naruto_

_"The best way to prove that I'm right would be to show you my abilities"_

_"A week ago, another group of survivors we call Hunters who are comprised of very horrid people that essentially killed of the military personnel and drove them away from Pittsburgh. It's now an independent quarantine zone. They currently follow a system where the strongest survives"._

_Wait you said you are well hidden and yet live close to another hostile community. Where is it you live exactly?"_

_"We live in the sewers connected to the Depot public works"._

_"I was bitten close to 2 days ago "_

_"Hi there squirt, my name's Danny. What's your name?"_

_I let out a smirk, "I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze"..._

NOW:

Naruto POV

I looked at Danny with a smirk. He seems friendly enough and appreciated children on top of that. That was Respectable, but stupid. Had he got to know me better I highly doubt he'd classify me as a child in his eyes, hell might not even classify me as a human.

I analysed Danny again. He appeared to be a mid-40's year old individual with green eyes, black hair covered by a helmet, a relatively baby fat free face and muscular body. He wore a long sleeved dark blue shirt, black vest, a pair of blue pants, several holsters and pads littered around the body and joints and was equipped with an M4 Assault rifle on his back and a pistol in the holster on his right. I immediately identified what he wore as I have seen it in the Gun's magazine's as well as on several dead in the city of *fanfiction*.

What Danny wore was the standard S.W.A.T. uniform and was in complete detail from the bullet proof vest to the holsters. 'Where the hell did he get that? Is this guy S.W.A.T or did he loot a corpse?' I thought quietly. Looking at him again he did possess an aura of authority and commanded respect as a leader. This man looked strong and experienced and was a leader so I guessed the former.

'This is definitely something of interest' I continued to think, 'maybe he can give me tips on how to shoot, operate more guns, set traps, efficiently reload, aim and so much more'.

'Already this community was interesting' I couldn't help but think. They had trained soldiers protecting them and that meant they were strong and prepared to face any threat.

I continued to look at him while he began to speak, "hi there son, what brings you to our community? Don't mind your friends they seem a bit off, maybe because what happened out there. They said you wanted to join and your completely welcome to after all what kind of people we would be if we turned down children?" he said in a calm and caring manner. I simply replied.

"Terrible people I would assume. I'm willing to work my weight in full and more to live here. Also don't think what Cassandra told you were completely false, I may surprise you yet old man. I'll show you something interesting after we get to get used to each other". I responded in a happy cheerful manner allowing them to be sold into trusting me. So far it was working.

I looked towards my group and could see Jason smirking. I decided to wipe that smirk off his face with little prank. Seeing that Danny was strong an influential person in the community I faked getting teary eyed and said in the best shaky and insecure voice I could come up with while shakily pointing to Jason.

"That mmmannn... ovvver there was very mean...*sniff* he was very mean to me... He wouldn't trusst meeee... He kept saying hurrtfulll thingsss to meee saying I wass dead weight. Heee forced meee to say thingsss I diddn't want ttoo say *snif**snif* and... and he hurt me with his words... saying I was a nuisance and that I shouldn't have found them... I just wanted some company... I wasss alone".

I put my best child innocence act while crying with puppy dog eyes to get the point across. I looked up and noticed that Danny turned to him with an angry expression muttering quietly to him

"We'll talk later".

I looked at everyone else and some were angry at Jason while most looked disappointed with him. This included Cassandra and Julie since some of it was true.

I saw my prank worked and I looked back to Jason who was in a blabbering mess with a shocked stupid expression etched on his face. I couldn't help but giggle as I dried my tears. Apparently everyone else took my giggling as a sign of light crying and glared harder at him. Man that was fun.

"It's ok son we'll keep the bad man away from you, I'll have a talk to him later about his… behaviour". I looked towards Jason again and he still appeared at a loss for words, then he glared angrily at me. I giggled a little more.

Let's take you to the main chamber so we can talk more about your stay here in the community. Your team has already put in a good word for you and seems 'desperate' to get you in. I'm sure Ish, Kyle and Susan will accept you since they care for kids. (Note, Ish, Susan, Kyle as well as Danny aren't OC's and are mentioned in artefacts Joel collects in the suburbs, this is the story of their community) Also we haven't had anyone new coming in since the uprising a week ago".

I smiled, so far things were looking my way.

It took us 20 minutes to arrive at the central chamber passing various checkpoints and chambers that have been refurnished to accommodate the community. I chose to be quiet throughout the journey as Cassandra and Danny chatted over what had happened during the scavenge operation as well as any new developments in the community.

Jason and Julie however chose to remain behind and catch up with their friends, then move to reconnect with their daughter and as such they handed their backpacks over to Danny who held onto both. I could have easily stored them away, however Cassandra was insistent I showed my powers when we met the main leaders and organizers of the community so a decision can be made as a whole.

Throughout the trip Cassandra and Danny shared friendly banter while greeting the other members of the community. I was met with curious gazes and supposed this was a tight knit community where everyone new everyone, then again it wasn't that large. While they talked I took this opportunity to observe the dimly lit passageway's we passed thoroughly and analysed any important details.

There wasn't any electricity available for the use of lights, however there was light filtering through small opening that sometimes gave the environment an eerie glow, while at other times peace and serenity. This was mainly in more light intensive areas which were also doubled over for the growth of fruits and vegetables.

From what I've seen so far in my life this was a far better organised and best looking sewer I have ever seen.

As we walked I continued to notice several things, firstly the people were better off than I had expected. Their clothes were clean, they were hygienic as they didn't smell and seemed fairly well fed and satiated, something that couldn't be achieved on scavengers and small farms alone. I figured I'll find out why later.

I also noticed furniture scattered over the place along with metal cupboards full of items and broken down wood and scraps of all kinds. I took note of the dampness of the walls, but that was to be expected in a sewer and just like his sewers at home it was aligned with bricks, cement, pipes and the occasional wiring and breaker box.

As we approached the central chamber I looked forward again. We had stopped in front of a wired metal gate with 2 guards posted on the other side. We had passed several armed guards on the way that was out busy completing patrols or relieving others of their duties. Some were wearing S.W.A.T. uniforms just like Danny with the basic blue pants, blue shirt and a bullet proof vest, while others just wore normal clothes with thick coats; no doubt some of the uniforms were scavenged. Where they scavenged them from I had no idea? But it showed that the community was well organised and armed to protect itself.

Danny decided he'd be the one addressing the guards. "The scavenger team has returned with supplies and a child; however there have been significant losses. We need to report to Ish, Kyle and Susan immediately and decide our next course of action".

"Yea we know Danny we can see that. We were going to open the gate regardless to all members, this is only a precaution for infected so for the moment there's need to be so stiff, it will make you age faster" One female guard replied in a friendly manner as if it was just banter between friends.

The male guard however had something else to say, "Where is the rest of the team? Where are Jeff and Mary?" He sounded concerned; 'friends and a lover or just friends?' was my immediate thought. Oh boy this was not good; at least I wasn't the one delivering the news. I looked to Cassandra waiting for her response. All she did though was just bow her head down and stay silent, apparently that's all the guard needed.

I saw him falter back a few steps in disbelief of what happened.

"I... I have to go, I'm going to take the rest of today off and maybe tomorrow" was all he said before he started walking away slowly. The female guard didn't bother a reply for his partner as he walked off; guess she knew that it was best to let things sink in first.

After a few moments the female guard opened the gate and let us in then resecured it once done. I decided to look around and take note of the surroundings. To the left were a large chamber with open rooms and a pillar in support along with a window and some light pouring through engulfing the chamber in light.

Directly forward and on my right were storage shelves filled with all sorts of equipment which included fold up beds, barrels, corrugated iron sheets, wooden platforms and more materials which the community most likely stored for later use.

I also noticed the sounds of chatter in the background as well as the sounds of a babies crying in the distance. Probably the nurseries close by. The female guard spoke bringing me out of my observation.

"Ish, Susan and Kyle would be at the dining area through the first room on the left. They have been busy trying to find solutions to the winter problem and areas to improve on and expand so it is likely they are still there" she said informatively while *pointing* to the first passageway.

"Thanks" was Danny's appreciative reply.

"Now whether you excuse me from my post or not I'm going to some time off to comfort my partner" was all she said before she ran off in the direction her partner left.

Danny said nothing and allowed her to leave, giving her his silence as permission to go.

After a few moments we started moving off towards the planning area and upon arriving I noticed a cubic block covered in blue plastic as well as 3 people gathered around a table of 5 chairs eating while looking down at a blue map and talking. The map was most likely the blueprint of the sewers and it was easy to figure where they were going from there.

Third person POV

The group arrived at the fairly dim chamber that was no doubt doubled over as a dining area and a bed room with 3 beds. It was occupied by 3 members while others can be seen and heard sleeping inside. The 3 people were quietly talking over plans and discussing solutions to a 'winter problem' that was fast approaching. As the group consisting of Danny, Cassandra and Naruto approached the 3 occupants finally took notice and stopped discussing plans in favour of observing the new arrivals, then proceeded to talk.

Naruto kept focus on their talk, but also decided to multi task by looking around the room as well in order to take in the new environment. He first noticed the room was fairly messy with all sorts of food and supplies littered about and unevenly stacked on the metal shelves opposing the beds. Behind the group was a cubic block which they had to mauver around in their approach and was covered with blue plastic that was secured around with rope. What was inside was anybody's guess.

Naruto looked up and noticed a balcony of another room that's light shone onto the dining area. He analysed further and noticed children running around shouting whatever was on top of their minds and could hear the slight giggles of babies as well. Naruto focused back on the conversation. It was nearly his turn to make a move.

"Cassandra your back, where is everybody else"? One the middle aged bald man said in question

"Jason and Julie left to catch up with friends and their daughter, they left their supplies with us, and the rest… didn't make it back". She said solemnly as if pinning the blame on herself for the loss of her comrades.

There were a few seconds of silence for the 3 occupants as they took in the information, the resulting loss and the consequences. Then…

"God damn it not again, we simply can't keep relying on scavenges to survive winters, we're losing too many friends and comrades" The other male occupant said who also appeared middle aged like Danny

"We should at least hold a time of mourning for the lost" The female leader spoke up having become solemn at the recent news after all 9 people who could fight were a good chunk of power lost in the community.

"*sigh* I understand what you mean but we simply can't waste time. Winter is coming and we need to be fully stocked up or we'll starve. There are rumours of other survivors in the country side having to resort to cannibalism for winter; we can't have that happen here. We already have the necessary clothing and blankets, but eventually we're going to run out of food". The bald man said again disheartened at the condition of their community. For them worrying about infected, other survivors and starvation was draining and it was showing on their faces.

"By the way who is the little one, I would have noticed cute youngster like him running around". The female leader spoke up interested in the new arrival.

The rest of the councillors focused on Naruto analysing his peculiar features up front. A hoodie that held a nine tailed fox on the left breast with tails stretched out encompassing a third of the left arm and a pair of fairly loose pants. They also noticed he had 3 small bag holsters behind him, 1 gun holster to his right hip along with 2 scroll holsters on his left hip and an exceptionally large scroll on his back.

Naruto decided to speak up, "Hi I'm Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze and I would like to join your community".

This immediately got the attention of everyone in the vicinity and since the central chamber was connected to other room's people could easily hear one another. A new member got a lot of people interested and a small crowd was gathering behind the returnee's and overlooking the room from the balcony. Even those recently sleeping woke up at the prospect of a new member.

"Ok well our dear Cassandra seems to trust you if she brought you along so I doubt I have to be worried about anything. I'm Susan by the way and these are my fellow co-workers Ish and my husband Kyle". Both Ish and Kyle gave a small wave at the mention of their own names. (Note, Ish, Susan, Kyle as well as Danny aren't OC's and are mentioned in artefacts Joel collects in the suburbs, this is the story of their community).

"We mainly make the big decisions for the community, but sometimes if we're free we help out in areas that need it most like project maintenance and security". Susan sounded off in a cheerful manner, most likely with the potential for a new child to join the ranks.

Naruto now knowing their names took some time to further analyse the features of each individual. Ish was a fairly skinny man with black eyes and a bald head (children's picture) and is in his early 50's. Just like Danny and other guards he was wearing the same S.W.A.T. clothes. He concluded that he tended to help out in guard duty and most likely actively participated in the protection of the community.

The other man who was named Kyle stuck to the normal civilian clothing consisting of blue jeans and a red short sleeved shirt. He was around mid-40's and had black eyes, black hair and a fairly handsome face for his age.

Susan also wore civilian clothes consisting of a white shirt tucked into her jeans. She was a brown haired female with black eyes and is estimated to be in her early 40's and just gave off and aura that screamed parent.

Brining Naruto out of his analysis Kyle spoke up "It's nice to meet you Naruto and as much as I like new faces and getting to know new people, we're currently in a tight spot for supplies. We need to know if you can contribute towards the community and what you can contribute so that we can survive the coming winter".

Naruto had only recently found out about seasons from Cassandra and found there were 4 main seasons in America that ran different times in the year.

Winter begins at the winter solstice in December and ends in March.

Spring begins in March and ends at the summer solstice in June.

Summer begins at the summer solstice in June and ends at the autumnal equinox in September.

And Fall/Autumn begins at the autumnal equinox in September and ends at the winter solstice in December.

The place Naruto ended up in was had such a different weather system from the elemental nations since it generally stayed the same within each nation such as Wind country being hot and dry all round and Fire country being in a constant state of Autumn. It was because of this that most countries were named after elements since Autumn was associated with fire, hence Fire country while desert summer was associated with wind, hence wind country and so on. Clearly things were different here and that enforced the point that Naruto's no longer on his planet. Naruto broke out of his muse and focused back to Kyle's question.

"Yes, as I told Cassandra I'm looking for a place to stay. Due to circumstances this is likely the best place I can find and as compensation I can provide my services as well as food and items I have collected" Naruto responded preparing to sell himself out to these people.

Originally Naruto was going to make up a story and present it to them hoping they would buy into it and allow him to stay, but it won't allow him to help or even train which would be counterproductive. As such he tested the waters with Cassandra, Julie and Jason by gauging their reaction to his powers. If they accepted him then he'll just get to the point and outright show them his abilities and potential. Now was the right time to do so.

"Ok, so what are you willing to offer and where are your items by the way?" Ish spoke hopefully, most likely due to a sudden solution to at least a few problems from the coming winter.

Naruto prepared himself as per his plan. There would be no better opportunity to do so than now. It is time to show them what he could do and how he can contribute.

"Firstly there are a few things you need to know about me".

Naruto took a long and slow breath preparing to give his secret revelation.

"As Cassandra has already told Danny I do have a few special abilities that would be useful to the community and likely solve some problems you're facing".

Naruto took another deep and slow breath in as if trying to create as much suspense as possible. The onlookers from the small crowd and their group were waited in anticipation.

Naruto responded casually as if trying to lighten the mood. "Well I came to this world around 3 days ago and before you start saying 'we believe you sarcastically' let me prove it to you".

NARUTO POV

Just as planned I would show them the shadow clone technique, explain it a bit, and wait for them to readjust then follow the same process with fuinjutsu. They should buy into that so I crossed my fingers and shouted "Shadow clone jutsu" and as expected 2 shadow clones popped out.

As per the normal reaction so far everyone in the room and balcony overhead was stunned silent for a moment before there was shouting of questions like

"What the hell",

"How'd you do that",

" Are you an alien"

And more but I ignored them and focused on convincing the main leaders of the community. While they were shocked and muttering in confusion I decided to explain a few things.

"Ish, Susan, Kyle I'd rather not live the rest of my life alone and watching my back constantly, I can be of help to the community. These clones are not illusions and can fight while I remain safe".

I ordered them to move up to them and touched them and while they did so I continued to explain.

"Here's the thing I know some locations of quarantine zones and safe zones but it would troublesome traveling there and I don't know what I'll find, could be hunter city or the military could attack me. Also if they found out about me I could end up being on the run for the rest of my life with what I can do. You have an organised community so I want to throw my hat in with you guys". I explained seriously, hoping I'd get the message across.

I waited a bit and the clones touched Susan and Kyle and just like Cassandra and Julie they fell on their buts shocked at what was going on. I giggled at the slight reprieve of the situation and said.

"When you're ready I still have things to show you".

I waited a bit more and the crowd in the background quieted down to those of whispers on what's going on and the decision the leaders were going to make. Everyone was curious and scared at the same time, I could hear it, feel it but I wasn't worried.

Using my clones I helped pull them on their feet, surprisingly it was Danny to voice his opinion

"Holy Hell you're an alien!"

I grew a tick mark at that, It appears alien was the replacement word for monster right now and was an annoyance every time I heard it.

"Do you know the implications of such ability, we can send those out to gather supplies at no risk to anyone and we can have extra manpower all for nothing" Danny continued.

"Yes I'm aware of the implications. Cassandra also said something similar. Also I'm not sure how I got here could be another world, from the past or another dimension, but where I'm from we called ourselves human". I calmly replied to Danny hiding my annoyance at the word alien.

"Now I told you why I want to join and what I can do to. I may be a kid but I'm older and more mature than I look. I still have 1 more ability to show you to drive the point home that I can be of use to the community and am not just another mouth to feed, so are you good so far?" I began to change tactics from the serious to the desperate so that they would be more likely to accept me into their ranks.

"Or am I too much of a bother and should I leave now" I said in a cute like tone. Damn this was embarrassing to do but if it helps I'll take it. I'd rather bunker down now in a safe community than take more chances out there. Here I can be proactive and can potentially fit room in for personal training. Have to get my reserves and techniques in order after all.

Ish, Susan and Kyle flinched at my method; yes it was working, now to bring it all home. I sniffed to continue my fake act then began in a casual tone

"Ish you wanted to know where my supplies are well watch carefully". I began taking out my side scroll and began unsealing it, then as I have previously done before with Cassandra and the group I unrolled it ninja style, equipped the M4 and handgun while it was mid-air then resealed the scroll ninja style.

Again they were shocked silent along with Danny and the gathered crowd, Cassandra already knowing this in our initial meeting just folded her arms and patiently waited for me to finish. I continued to talk,

"This is another one of my abilities which so only I can do. It allows me seal items into these scrolls I have designed and can store significantly more than your back packs can". After that was said and done I took this as my que to reseal my equipped weaponry back and patiently waited for their response.

It took a while but eventually the leaders, Danny and the crowd broke out of their daze. Ish spoke up while looking at Cassandra

"Well Cassandra this is quite something you brought back from your scavenge outside, with what he can do we can resolve many issues without having to take risks".

Cassandra simply replied "yea I know I'm awesome".

Ish accepting the answer readily looked at me and spoke again "Naruto was it? We'd be happy to let you join our community so long as you help out. At the moment we are desperate for supplies and are only getting along by just meeting minimum requirements of food consumption. We actually have little to no stock left so as much as I hate asking someone new for help, will you help us?"

"Of course, that is if this becomes my new home" I simply replied.

It appears as a definite that Ish was sold. I looked to Susan and Kyle. So far they didn't have a problem.

"Susan, Kyle, what do you think should we let him stay?" Ish said turning his head to face them.

It appears now was the final verdict, but I remained confident that I would be accepted. It would be pretty ridiculous if I was kicked out, they would lose a potentially valuable asset that way.

"Yeah I have no problem with letting little Naruto here join. He may say he's older but to me he is a kid in need of a safe place and refuge. Besides if he's willing to help us out then the more the better" Susan said.

Kyle simply replied "he already had me sold when he showed me his superpowers. Cloning although not new is definitely something useful with the present state of the world. I'm all in. What about your opinion Danny?"

"Sure I'm happy to have him on board, but I feel a bit uncomfortable letting a kid help us out, it should be the other way around shouldn't it. But then again I suppose we need to be secure about everything that happens". Danny replied a bit conflicted of himself by letting a child do the dangerous work adult should be doing and I respected him for that mindset. Why? Because high morals these day's meant a lot to keep. I decided to provide more information on myself as a trust gesture as well as to satiate Danny's inner conflict.

"If it makes you feel better I'm actually 17 and am presently stuck in a kid's body due to the side effects of travelling here. I have lived life and have seen the best and worse humanity can offer. I can totally handle myself and any tasks you send my way… As for experience, well where I am from we had a system of Shinobi which were ninja that acted as the military force and we did all sorts of missions ranging from babysitting to assassinations". I said bright and confident of myself, my abilities and my experience.

"You took assassinations!?" Susan all but screamed.

I replied simply quickly as to not give off the wrong impression "no, I didn't take any assassination missions, it just wasn't my forte. I however took bodyguard missions, retrieval missions and others that involved combat, but not direct assassinations. The best way to compare what I did is to what S.W.A.T. does, or did prior to the outbreak. I was part of assault and special task force against terrorists and such and therefore I have plenty of experience in survival and combat".

Susan and the others in the room as well as the small gathered crowd accepted the answer while Danny looked like he was going to jump for joy, no doubt curious about me and wanting to get to know how my planets system worked in comparison to their S.W.A.T. teams.

I looked over anything else while the furnace was still hot to these people and just remembered showing Cassandra, Julie and Jason the bite.

I had to do the same to these people.

I had to show the bite mark now and possibly my slightly faster than theirs regeneration.

'Regeneration' I though sadly. Loosing Kurama also meant losing the greater perks of regeneration, something that would be extremely useful in gun fights. Not to say it is entirely gone, just a hell lot slower than before. I was now more prone to die and injuries now tended to leave scars. Right now I should go over my bite mark to them while my points in the community were strong and with most of the people gathered around. This also meant fewer repeats of information currently being divulged. I prepared myself and began talking again.

"Right I also have one last thing to show you people before we move on".

Hopefully they won't scream and freak out and pull out a gun. It was time to push my point across of how special I am, of how effective my immunity truly is. Still I wanted to get the anticipation up so I began.

"Watch my left arm carefully". I rolled up my sleeve to show the bite mark scar that was healed over.

"Before you freak out I was bitten 3 days ago and officially am immune to the fungal infection. Now considering that I am unique it's not that hard to put 2 and 2 together right?" I questioned waiting for their response.

There was a short silence before murmurs of all kind broke out. Some murmurs of hope while others of fear of a delayed reaction.

Danny spoke up again to drive the point home that I was immune, however not the way I liked, "So you really are an alien, the fungal infection only effects humans turning them into infected so for you not to be infected you can't be human".

I was annoyed at his response and clearly showed on my face, however again as onlookers looked, they thought my annoyed expression was cute and I even noticed some of the girls preparing to run up and hug me. The only thing keeping them back is inappropriate timing and fear of the unknown so for now I was safe in that regard.

I *sighed* "ok, now that's covered can we move on, I'd like to get started as soon as possible and help out where I can. I'm sure there are many things you need done".

Susan answered this time, "yes that will be wise. Just give us time to organise your arrangements, projects and missions you can help out on or complete. We would like to spare more people to help you but with what has recently happened we are low on manpower and don't want to risk more needless deaths. Also if there are any supplies you can spare outside your trip for the community it would be much appreciated. From what we can see in you and your confidence you probably have plenty stored in the large scroll on your back. Don't worry what you collect will be recorded".

I understood where she was coming from and she was right. I wouldn't risk friends and comrades if I could help it, rather I would go in alone. I usually did anyway, besides it was most likely that any team members would hold me back since I now relied more on stealth, fast movement, and quick reaction times along with my jutsu arsenal. So in response I simply nodded to her.

Kyle spoke up but not to me, but rather to the perplexed crowd still getting over the recent development that I can do all sorts of 'magic', and would help them out through the crisis.

"Ok everybody back to your stations you can get to know the new guy later, we need work done people. We mourn the losses of those that didn't make it back tomorrow morning. For now we need to organise. Chop, Chop".

The gathered crowd dispersed in mumbles going to their work stations, some looked happy and hopeful at the prospect of me as the new member, however most looked down at the memory of those lost in the scavenge. That thought however brought a new thought that I wanted addressed.

"Come to think of it why did your community decide it was a good idea to scavenge in *fanfiction* city, that was extremely risky and that risk was paid in lives. Then again I'd should thank you since I'll never have found your community otherwise and probably would still be spending nights surrounded by infected". I said after all it was a dangerous journey to there and back.

Kyle was the one to respond. "*sigh* Your right it was stupid and dangerous and we know it, however with recent developments such as the uprising in Pittsburgh and the coming winter we couldn't risk looking for supplies locally anymore, in all likelihood we would be found out eventually and be at constant war with them. A war we would lose". He took a small break to enhance his point then continued

"Look around here; there are women, children and elderly here, they can't fight and the hunters although killed off those unfit for survival still greatly outnumbered us far beyond 20 of them to one of us and that's including the non-combatants. In addition they would be looking around for tourists, whom they call us as well as supplies locally. If we scavenge close by we would be found out and eventually die by their hands". He continued

"Dealing with infected is much easier than dealing with humans and it is a well-known fact that when the outbreak began *fanfiction* city was a quarantine zone that was over run early into the week. For some reason or another most infected around converged on the location and the city was quickly taken by them". Kyle continued

"Only a few made it out, but it meant to us that there were a lot of supplies there. No one was willing to risk scavenging in an over run city and we had hoped that the infected horde had moved on. Just in case we supplemented the team with numbers to better deal with the problem, apparently we were wrong and they paid the price.

"The good side about it is that you came around and hopefully can be a beacon to us in the coming days, God knows we need it". He finished talking and I took in all he said and nodded in acknowledgement. Kyle took that as a sign to return to his work and began planning with Susan and going over the new developments.

I thought over all he said and couldn't find fault in his logic. So far he was right and the community had to ensure its safety, if he didn't come around they would have continued to run hard risks and losses just to survive.

I will have to change that.

I stood silent contemplating what I should do when Ish suddenly spoke up.

"Well while there is still time in the day look around and get to know the place I'm sure Cassandra will be happy to lead you. You should also store whatever supplies you managed to obtain for the community in either the armoury, kitchen area or the medical facility. There are active members there and they will record what you brought in". He said informing me of my next best course of action.

"Just so you know trading equipment at the moment is illegal as we are actually running a system where everything belongs to everyone. Also those not on patrols can only carry a handgun, for you I'll make an exception since you look like you'll be actively participating for the community's benefit and would likely be taking activities outside, after you get to know your new home first". He supplied informing me of the rules and regulations of the community I now reside in.

I simply in nodded in acknowledgement and he took that as his que to return to work. He then proceeded to look back at the sewers map most likely planning new endeavours with Kyle and Susan.

Deciding it was time to complete my objectives I first took off my big scroll and took out Jeff's supplies and handed it to Danny. "Danny these are Jeff's supplies, can Cassandra and I come with you to unload our supplies in the kitchen and armoury, then the medical room?"

Danny's casual response was "sure the armoury and kitchen are relatively close to one another and is up the staircase just over there *points*, it's only a couple of meters away and besides we can get to know each other better such as combat styles and such".

I simply replied "yea that's cool with me, Cassandra before we start touring the place let's drop off our supplies".

"yea… yea I know, *sigh* lets go", she sounded exasperated about something, figure it had to do with expending so much time integrating me into the community.

Time skip after supply drop off

Cassandra, Danny and I dropped off our supplies at the armoury and kitchen, however the medical ward was located further down and Cassandra was insistent we passed by it first mentioning her family was there. Her demeanour seemed to have changed after her insistency and she had such a sad smile, I wonder why? Guess I'll find out.

Danny although was fun spending time with had to leave to sleep for a bit before he started his night post. I told him I slept little and I will come find him later at night in which case we can continue our conversation.

We had managed small talk in the armoury and kitchen, but it was mainly about my origins so I was uncomfortable telling them too much until I go to know both Cassandra and Danny better. But I eventually gave in and decided to tell them a few missions I've done and the adventures I had, what I learned and what I did to improve. Such missions included me saving princess Koyuki who eventually became Queen Koyuki and my adventures with priestess Shion and the statue army. They seemed perplexed at such missions happening having nothing done in life to compare the mission to.

Cassandra and I eventually made our way to the medical ward passing many rooms and chambers. Cassandra however kept silent saying she will show me around after she met her family and ensured they were ok. I understood what she felt and I too would be serious were I in her position.

Cassandra also appeared in deep reflective thought and at times looked at me with a hopeful expression, I didn't know why? I wanted to ask her but figured it was best she confronted me about it when she was ready. Besides it seemed drawn to the medical facility and her family, was someone she cared about sick?

A few moments later my assumption was proven correct when we entered through the doors of the make shift facility and noticed 3 people engaged in a conversation. 2 people, 1 male the other female surrounded a bed while a child was resting on having an occasional cough. From what I could tell from first inspection she was sick and frail.

Ignoring them for the moment I decided to take a look at the medical facility. It was a makeshift facility with 2 fold up beds with white sheets as well as a broken cupboard full of different medical supplies ranging from small band aids to disinfectant and needles. I looked deeper and noticed there weren't many supplies left and more importantly lacked the on field med kits. The community had the soldiers but lacked the supplies to aid them. I also noticed the doctor and nurse were no longer there, having probably left shortly after they had arrived to complete some tasks.

I looked at the walls, and then the ceiling and I can definitely say it lacked the standard white medical room feature, hell one couldn't even compare it to this. There were pipes big and small criss-crossed all over the room and were slightly leaking. The room although dark was still dimply lit with candles and was framed with brown bricks giving of a weary feeling. I understood that space was limited, but they could have picked something better for the injured. Then again it was a difficult room to get to and can be easily fortified since it was up several stairs with a narrow opening. Infected hunters or otherwise would have difficulty securing this spot once fortified. I was brought out of my observations as Cassandra spoke up

"Mom, Dad, little sis I'm home and I brought a friend. I'm not sure if you heard the rumours yet, but he's a bit special"

Cassandra said to them with a little hope in her voice, but still sounding mostly bitter, either from the current situation of her sister being sick in bed or having to deal with the aftermath of Jeff's death.

"We know dear, some people came by to deliver the good news. I find it hard to believe them and see it as a cheer up joke, but I guess 'seeing is believing' as the saying goes and from what I can see they were at least right about one new person in the community". The now identified mother of Cassandra spoke up looking at Naruto and taking in his features.

"Oh we're my manners, my name is Melissa and this is my husband Max and our daughter Mary. She's a bit sick at the moment but pretty soon she'll be up and about in no time".

She tried sounding cheery; however I could still identify the hidden underlying tone in her voice. She was lying and trying her best to keep it up... She was lying to Mary.

Now I understood what was going on, she was sick and without the right facilities to know why and how to treat it she could die. I looked at them and noticed that the parents and their daughters also had similar features of blond hair but with different lengths. The only major difference was they all had different eyes, body shape and clothes, otherwise they'd be copies of each other. Max spoke up bringing me back to the present.

"So where's Jeff? He's usually here first making up stories of his adventures outside". I flinched at that, apparently the people that came in prior only bothered mentioning me and choose to keep the other information away, most likely leaving it to Cassandra to deliver the news. Respectable but also irresponsible, poor Cassandra already has a lot on her plate to deal with.

She didn't respond immediately and looked down trying to figure what to say I assume. It took a while for her to respond but the message was clear.

"Mom, Dad, Mary… Jeff has moved on" she said trying to explain as soothingly as possible. It appears Jeff and the family were rather close and his loss had greatly impacted them. At this moment I thought I was a third wheel and wanted to leave so they could get over the loss as a family, but Cassandra continued.

"If it wasn't for Naruto here, I along with Julie and Jason would have died there. We managed to gain supplies but everyone else was lost. We're hoping Naruto here can make all the difference in the future". She finished hopefully.

I was a bit proud of her putting faith in me; however I wasn't happy about it at the same time. Everyone back in the elemental nations did the same and I failed them. I just felt I wasn't ready for the responsibility again, now here I am with more people riding on my back with hope. I wasn't ready for this responsibility again just yet.

An hour passed and we talked introducing ourselves such as likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams for the future and just as expected the results were mixed. The one that stood out most to me was Mary and her dream.

Flashback

"So what's your dream sweetie" Melissa spoke as soothingly as possible.

Mary replied in the most cheerful and empowered voice I had ever heard, especially in comparison to her physical condition. She said "My dream is to be able to help support my family one day like big sis Cass… and to see a future where everyone no longer had to live in fear".

Those simple yet elegantly woven words toId me everything about her. In her I saw her spirit in trying to prove herself to others, to prove she wasn't a burden along with the desire to protect them. In her I saw my old self.

'The Will of Fire'

To me she was someone I had to help and protect, she was a kindred soul of to that of my past self and that was something I wanted to protect.

We talked a little longer, but it was time for Cassandra and me to complete the tour of my new home, so we left promising to meet up with them again when it was time for bed.

We walked around the community and Cassandra pointed out various projects and jobs they had running and proceeded to show me while pointing out flaws and what needed to be improved.

She had told me the laundry rooms they had refurbished early in the years and was currently ran by the elderly and children that washed clothes daily for the community, after all everyone had to work and contribute one way or another.

She showed me some pot farms that were ran by botanists and wives to supply a steady source of food, they of course were all located where sunlight could reach and were constantly maintained and expanding to ensure survival into the future.

Food currently was generally limited with few renewable sources which came from the pot farms grown as well as any rats that were found, captured, cooked then eaten. At first I found the idea disgusting but looking at it as a matter of survival it was completely understandable.

There were still a lot of people though and the renewable food sources couldn't cater for everyone, as a result they were becoming more and more reliant on scavenges. Cassandra also mentioned plans of setting up outside farms and gardens and going up to collect, but the issue of infected remained, something I hope to address and winter was now coming.

Water remained in ample supply since they had surplus' of containers for storage and the facility was originally designed to draw and store fresh water, whether it is cleaned with chemicals or rainwater filtered through a pipe. One such pipe system was set up in the central chambers near the nursery school and was organised by Susan. The only issue they had with it was maintenance every once in a while.

We had also passed various sleeping quarters, the one I was chosen to sleep with was Cassandra and her family since Cassandra was closer to me than the others. I smiled at that, now I suppose we were friends and in the future I hoped to see her family as my family.

Several hours passed and it was time for sleep. The hallways were dark with only the occasional candle around. I decided to take this opportunity to explore and talk to the night security along with Danny since I didn't need much time to sleep.

I saw passing patrols and they questioned me, but overall saw no problem with me wanting to talk to Danny and pointed me towards the same entrance I came in through. I eventually found him and spent the night talking to him and his comrades about various ideas, tactics and adventure. I even agreed to help teach them in wielding knives and taijutsu while showing them my abilities they had only just heard about. As usual they were shocked, but being soldiers and guards they overcame it quickly and began thinking of different possibilities with the ability.

As a result of our escapades in the night I developed bonds with them and they even agreed to help me with operating guns. We did this all throughout the night and eventually I became good friends with them, however a sad thoughts continued through my mind 'more precious people to protect', I shook my head at that, couldn't dwell too much into the past. So far my first afternoon and night in the community was nice.

I left them around 3 am in the morning to return to bed and get at least a little sleep… It was time I helped contribute to the community's growth and development. I slept looking forward to spending my future with them.

Alongside them.

Additional comments:

Holy crap that chapter was long and hard since I needed to research more on the sewers ark and worst of all there were no maps… I had to watch the walkthrough and design my own which ill post up later. How was the chapter by the way? Was there something wrong? Did I miss something? If so PM or review and I'll endeavour to fix it up

Also so you know the suburbs aren't Hunter territory yet and are actually crawling with infected. Why? Simply put the hunters of Pittsburgh are consolidating power after expelling the military a week ago. I'm not sure when they forced the military out, but if it's different than what I said please pm me or review and I'll update the mistake if I can.

*Important* as a heads up I might go back and change Naruto's swimwear to an all-encompassing child spandex swimsuit. Why I decided on this. Well I thought over Naruto's wound covered in bandages was a terrible dead giveaway and I had them ignore it. My mistake so I was wondering if there were any swimwear that could of hid it, you know long sleeves. Then I remembered all-encompassing spandex swimwear and I could make a link to Lee and Guy in the past reflection. Does this change anything? No, just what he wore in the past. This change won't take place for a while since I'm aiming to push chapters out as fast as I can for the moment.

*important* I'll be updating the US city shortly

When I post chapters I will most likely update the existing chapters down the road to improve it or make it more presentable while cleaning any errors in the story I can find. As you've noticed I'm rushing chapters out since my free time will be strained pretty soon and I tend to make errors in my rush. That's why I'd like constructive reviews to fix anything bad down the road.

Also I'd like more reviews. Helps me push to finish the story

If there is something you'd like to see please post it as a review and if I think it's good I may add it. For now I have a general plot line for the story in my head.

Also I don't plan to abandon this story, EVER until I complete it so expect many updates.

I'm still new to writing fanfiction so please read and review with constructive critique. It helps you and me in the long run. I'd like to be almost pro when i get to the juicy bits of the game like the next few chapters and meeting Ellie and Joel with the start of their adventure.

ITEMS BEING BROUGHT AND SUPPLIES

5 bags, 2 small backpacks and 3 large hiker class bags

M4 assault rifle = 7

M4 bullets = 320

M4 magazines = 8

9 mm Hand Guns = 11

9mm bullets = 224

9mm magazines = 22

Health Kit = 19

Molotov Cocktail = 11

grenades = 3

throwing knives = 22

kunai = 12

1 kunai with explosive note

18 food pills

20 blood pills

5 canteens of water

Blades = 30

Rags = 25

Bindings = 15

Sugar = 9

Alcohol = 23

some steel wire

38 food pills

40 blood pills

some bandages,

4 canteens of water

2 paper bundles numbering 200 pieces of A4 paper

2 cartridges of ink

remaining bowl of ink and paintbrush

information on military and fireflies

For food his collection ranged quite high and most pertained to canned food such as Tuna, baked beans, sardines and other non expired food. as well as cup ramen. amount will be specified later chapters

Recipes Known:

Health Kit

Molotov Cocktail


	8. Chapter 8 The Arc of Truth part 2

**The Last of Naruto**

***important note* my update schedule has changed to around 2-3 times a week, why? Simply because I have a life to deal with in university and tests every day is crap. Also this was a little rushed so there are errors and stuff I may have left out. I plan to read it on my iphone and find those errors later then correct them.**

***important note* I'll be looking at past chapters and completing updates soon, either now or in the week. Also I am doing this to improve my communication in English so I'm learning on the go so I won't use BETA's, but on the plus side for you readers I publish my stories straight away so you don't have to wait long.**

***Important note* I didn't have much time to work on this chapter so I'll be going back to edit it once I post it. I most likely left some important stuff out and there are some errors inside. I plan to make OMAKE's later or short stories down the road **

**I decided to make this chapter more of a summary with what happens in the community simply because it would take too long for chapters to cover what has happened over the time period and I don't have time nor inspiration to do that.**

**Comments:**

**I didn't get many reviews other than what I'm going to do with Riley. I have a few ideas and just recently watched Left Behind walkthrough and I can manage to fit it in the story, but I can see it would be difficult. Anyway that's me to know and you to find out.**

**Also please read the side stories below, it helps with Naruto's relationship in the community. **

**If you are wondering why I changed the name of the previous chapter, well the sewers kind of gave away where they were going so it was a ruin if someone new was reading. Lol.**

**Please review once you've read**

**Chapter 8 The Arc of Truth part 2.**

**_Time skip summary of 1 ½ years._**

Naruto had grown stronger and closer to the community ever since he arrived and has contributed the most towards its expansion and development in the sewers. At first mostly everyone was a bit sceptical and didn't want to risk the life of a child even if they were wrong, however time and time again Naruto had proved himself by going on risk filled ventures alone. By now everyone knew he could handle himself.

**The Coming winter…**

The first few months for Naruto were hard, winter was fast approaching when he arrived at the community and that meant greater difficulty in scavenging natural supplies. All they had reserved then was the stuff he had scavenged personally for trade which he ended up giving to them. Still there were many members to feed and their scavenge desperations showed how screwed they would be without his intervention, as such Naruto's first task was to gather supplies for the community.

Naruto started by using whatever advantage he had and asked the free members of the community to bring him materials that could be used to create as many large and small scrolls as possible after all storage scrolls were not only used to store items but also to preserve them with its unique ability to keep stored items in suspended animation. Because of this he devised a unique plan.

That plan was to deliver the scrolls to the safe house already established in *fanfiction city* and spend time scavenging through whatever could be found. He and his clones would then use this time to fill the scrolls up to full stock and store it in the safe house for the few days he stayed and then eventually make his way back to the community to drop off the supplies. Already he was preparing to leave and he had only joined yesterday, but he supposed it was for the greater good of the community.

Naruto spent the first day making as many seals as possible while the clones created the scrolls. When they had ran out of material Naruto set 1 clone out to get to know the community while collecting weapons and gear for the trip while the other practiced and trained in techniques. So far his reserves and chakra coils were thin and smaller than what it used to be simply because Kurama was no longer there to automatically stretch his reserves in their constant Chakra battle. Now he had to work alone on his reserves and try to increase them as much as possible and he had to do it quickly.

Naruto and his clone hadn't learnt much that day, rather the clone focused on Chakra control exercises. On the bright note he managed to complete several scrolls, some had seals others were plain and stored in which he would modify them when he was there, perhaps at night while he and the clones collected supplies in the day. Naruto would have liked to put seals on all the scrolls first then store them, but as expected scrolls already with seals could not be stored in one another.

Naruto looked the same as he did the first day and was slowly stating to stink and as such new clothing needed to be scavenged, especially for the coming winter. He took this opportunity to look over what equipment he brought, couple of large sealing scrolls, several incomplete smaller scrolls, an M4 assault rifle, a handgun, a combat knife and some throwing knives and a crap load of magazines and bullets. He looked back towards the entrance and exit of the community which he arrived through, it was almost like he was already saying goodbye. He then looked forward again and moved onto *fanfiction* city.

Naruto was fast alone with his Shinobi training and was able to travel 4 hours alone to the destination. Over the course of the winter Naruto spent a majority of his time scavenging what he could find useful for the community in order to meet its basic needs. Naruto's normal routine consisted of sending out 2 clones with empty scrolls and weapons and task them to randomly search the city for any useful supplies. This went on for days he spent in the city and eventually he sought his sights on the mall which Scavenger was tasked to in the beginning and decided to either secure the mall for him to use or scavenge what he could find useful.

In the end the mall was far too over-run and there were too many open entrances. The front for instance was entirely blown away from some explosion allowing the infected an area to swarm in. Naruto decided that he would secure what stores he could with shutters and barricades and by using clones would scavenge through stores collecting what he could find useful such as Non expired food, clothing, weapons, ammo, medicine and so much more. He also stocked up on the less essential items that would prove useful throughout winter such as charcoal, barbeques, blankets and more. In the end the scrolls were filled to the brim and he made his way back to the community to empty them out. This process continued all throughout winter.

During this winter Naruto was greatly limited in food supplies and time simply because food was given to the community to stave off starvation and his time was mostly spent looking for food. As a result Naruto couldn't attain enough calories to expend strength and clones to train and study so he made little progress in winter. Time was another issue, he had many people to feed and time had to be spent looking for supplies to feed them. This with the combination of food shortages had the effect that Naruto could not afford to waste time training and improving. On the bright side though Naruto was able to improve his combat capabilities and gained a greater level of skill and experience due to dealing with infected. Encounters were extremely common in the city and usually in large numbers which meant that sometimes that Naruto would have to end up having to run or fight. Seeing as he survived so far he can definitely chalk it up to new experience in life.

**Spring time**

When spring came around in March the community had stocked all containers with as much water as possible from the snow so that any form of water needs was easily met into the future. Naruto even helped in this regard by redesigning the seals in some storage scrolls to store water. There was more than enough stored to last the year, but as precaution water play was restricted to limited times. How they had water play? Well Naruto had raided the toy store and got them for the kids, or rather Naruto was running from infected and stumbled into the store.

Also during Naruto's first winter most time was spend stocking supplies for the community just to get by, but he also took time to secure any useful non essentials such as exercise machines, proper medical equipment for the medical room, solar panels for constant electricity, batteries, gasoline and generators. Using these supplies the community got to work refurbishing while at the same time fortifying their defences both throughout winter and spring. Had there been any hunters exploring the sewers at the time they would have heard the ongoing construction work taking place.

Spring was finally around and Naruto was going to use this time to get to know the community at a more personal level, sure they were immensely grateful for his contributions but they still didn't know much about him. He only maintained contact with the leaders, Cassandra, her family and Mary who he visited every time he returned from supply runs. He brought her presents ranging from essentials like blankets and new comfortable pillows to books and toys she would enjoy. They had become really close and Naruto even began sharing her more personal stories of his adventures. This eventually became the same with Cassandra and the family, now he supposed they were his family as well.

Projects and tasks were now being introduced by Naruto throughout spring such as training, security adjustments, clearing infected in the sewers and increasing renewable food stores. Food was in good supply with what they had stocked up and the new pot farms they had running in the sewers and above surface, a project Naruto mainly attended to due to infected, he even had set up pot farms in his getaway in *fan fiction city*. His continual work had always constricted his time, so much so he barely had contact with Julie and Jason and has yet to mingle with those more closer to his present age, physically and mentally. Spring was a time of rest for him and although he still went out to scavenge he spent most of his time training himself, others, studying, using clones to study or getting to know and mingle in the community.

For his studies Naruto decided to focus a clone on medicine and engineering which seemed the most practical application in the present world, Engineering just seemed useful when operating technology or at least attempting to get it to operate. For medicine he decided to start studying what books and documents he could get his hands on so that he could aid comrade's long term when they were injured as well as to find a way to cure Mary's sickness.

Naruto also began to focus a clone on the art of sealing to optimise the use of seals on paper, then on different surfaces. This way he could make traps on the move or passively improve equipment such as enhancing armour against bites and bullet fire. Traps would also be useful against keeping infected out while strengthening their own forces against any human incursions in the future.

**Summer**

When Summer time came around Naruto had grown a lot closer to the community. He spent fee time with children that were physically his age giving them the time of day for attention as well as bringing them toys and gifts when he was out scavenging.

He along with the security personnel were able to clear out infected in different areas of the sewers and was expanding outwards. One such result of their expansion was the development of the 'training room' which was doubled over as a shooting range. Naruto preferred to call it the Dojo and he gave sessions in hand to hand combat training while also being trained himself in using different weapons and managing them effectively.

The medical room had also been fully refurbished and was now whiter with electricity running through it utilising solar panels he had collected raiding different hardware stores. It was no longer dark and gloomy with a single candle as a light, now it had a better look to it. Sure the pipes still criss-crossed overhead but they had been bandaged and reinforced to ensure no leakage. The medical cupboard was replaced with a more new cupboard raided from medical facilities and it contained more medicine such as medical packs, bandages and alcohol.

Naruto had also started up new friendships and time schedules with the children his physical age as well as teenagers who were at his mental age. In the afternoon Naruto can be seen playing with the children and reading them stories while in the day time he spent time with teenagers and Casandra, sometimes they would take risky ventures outside and Naruto would follow them to make sure they stayed safe.

In terms of training Naruto, or rather his clone had made progress in medical study and began working on medical jutsu by copying what he observed from Sakura and Tsunade. He had been able to re-create the 'mystical palm technique' and was able to perform minor healing on a dieing fish. He wasn't a great medical expert and couldn't be qualified as a medical ninja yet, but it was a start he was satisfied with. (*Note* this ability is unable to help those who were bitten, and is focused primarily on healing injuries and bones.)

When he was satisfied that the 'mystical palm technique' could be used on others, he went directly to Mary to find out what was the cause of her sickness. By studying medical knowledge via a clone every day, he was able to determine Mary was suffering from cancer. It was going to be hard work fixing that problem, but it did not deter him and when he saw her smile. He understood right there that he had to continue training in the medical field, for her and for others. He may not be able to measure up to the best like Sakura and Tsunade, but he will try for Mary.

Over the summer food was plenty and the pot farms grew wildly as such Naruto decided to conserve his time and began to utilise the other shadow clone to begin researching new combative Jutsu. This was mainly because the only main combat jutsu he truly knew was the rasengan and its variation techniques and the variations weren't even accessible to him since he was simply too young and his Chakra too low. So he needed new techniques.

Naruto himself spent what free time he had training and working to increase his reserves. This was met with minor success since he was still a child and a long way from his prime, still for the moment he would make do with what he had. In addition Naruto had found time, although very little to continue practicing Senjutsu by trying to shorten the time it takes to absorb the natural energy as well as trying to extend its time period. Again this was met with little success since he was too young and too small.

Progress in training continues to remain slow since pressing missions tended to pop up like dealing with hunters who were getting too close to their territory or certain equipment needs of the community. If that was the case it was either the original or the clones sent to deal with the problem. Simply put there were too many interruptions.

**Autumn/ Fall.**

It was autumn and Naruto had to get back to work scavenging supplies for the coming winter. Since he was acting early and knew what was coming, Naruto had ample time to prepare for winter and utilising storage scrolls and several seals designed to empty contents the community began storing leftover food for the coming winter. Overall, preparations were under way and now relied less from what Naruto had scavenged.

Although food was doing well, water was not. Through the excess use of water in the year they were starting to run dangerously low. They only had refills in rainy weather and now Naruto had prioritised autumn for finding fresh water and filter systems. This was met with some success, but more would be needed in the future. Deciding to ensure that there was more water in the future he began collecting canisters of all kinds to fill it with water in the coming winter.

Throughout spring, summer and autumn Naruto had spent time getting to know the community on a more personal basis. He was now much closer to the people and spent what time he had in his day to know them and get closer to them whether it is through childish pranks to lighten the mood, spending time with children and teenagers or by using what knowledge he gained to teach others in taijutsu or basic survival training. Overall the community liked him greatly and he liked the community.

For relationships Naruto had grown closer to Cassandra. At first it was a sisterly love with her being part of his new family, but through time spent together whether it is on outside scavenge and scout missions or to normal talking and general fun, Naruto could definitely say he was starting to like Cassandra on a more personal level, yet he was conflicting with himself. Although his mentality was of 17 year old now turning 18 in this autumn, his body was still that of a child and hormones hasn't kicked in yet, or rather again. Then again he supposed it was for the best at the moment as it would have definitely led to awkward situations with him and Cassandra.

On the same note Naruto had also developing feelings for Mary and was having an inner conflict between her and her sister. Mary just reminded him of his old self and better times before the 4th Shinobi war. She was someone untainted by the world and disasters that humans cause and suffer through and he saw her as someone to keep such things away from. Through their time spent together in the medical room during Naruto's visits he could definitely say he enjoyed her company. She was a good listener and liked the stories he told and the presents he brought. He was growing closer to her and he knew it.

Naruto's relationship with Danny and the guards developed primarily out of respect simply because Naruto went out for the good of the community generally alone and mainly held their training sessions either at the end of the day or early morning just before sunrise. There comradery had developed to a point where they just had natural team work together when dealing with infected. This came about when Naruto was tasked with the guards to clear certain areas of the sewers to ensure the infected population remained low, while creating room for them to expand. During these assaults no one was lost due to careful planning and teamwork, although there were still a few injuries. To also help improve security Naruto had scavenged all forms of weaponry he could find as well as any body armour and bullet proof vests, now there was a mix of guards wearing S.W.A.T uniform and others using military uniforms. The place was starting to look more like a military operating centre.

One of Naruto's clones had been expended on studying medicine and jutsu. Sometimes he would share what he learnt with others, but he usually focused its time improving the mystical palm technique and learning what he could from the human anatomy. He was hoping in the future he could analyse himself and see if there was a viable cure for the infection without having to cut open his body. So far the analysis of the technique had improved leaps and bounds, but his ability to heal remained constricted and had room for improvement. He still needed to spend more time on chakra control and increasing his reserves. That and he needed to age and mature more.

On the more offensive Jutsu arsenal the clone has been making some progress on learning techniques. One such technique that was being recreated from previous fights and observations was the 'Wind release concussive air bullets'. All combat Jutsu focus was prioritised on this technique since Naruto needed to use his mouth as a weapon as his hands would generally be indisposed with a gun in one hand and a close range weapon in the other. For now the clone was able to perform the technique to at an amateur level and it wasn't as effective and dangerous as it could be especially since he required hand signs and name calling for the jutsu to work. Overtime Naruto and the clone was hoping to master the technique to a level in which the concussive force would kill opponents while at the same time no longer needing to generate hand signs and name calling the technique.

For seals the clone tasked to study them and take notes had a great number of breakthroughs simply because it needed only a little chakra to create them. At first the Naruto only knew how to create storage scrolls and the combinations required for efficient use, but overtime Naruto has been able to adapt seals to create more combat effective weaponry. Some breakthroughs Naruto had was being able to lay small paper seal chakra traps that slowed enemy movement down by placing the paper seals on the ground. The seal worked by the target walking close to the area range in which case would place him/her or it in a small genjutsu of binding and restrict the targets movement allowing for easy disposal or retreats. One disadvantage however was that the genjutsu did not affect clickers or bloaters and only affected runners and stalkers temporarily.

The greatest seal Naruto was able to rediscover was the creation of explosive seals which he could either place on paper tag's or rolled them up into small balls. For tags he used them as explosive traps that were either timed or detonated and also had the option to be placed on kunai and throwing knives for maneuverability while for the explosive balls they substituted as on the move grenades, except they were to light weight and as such can only be thrown short range of around 15 meters maximum. One downside of using equipment with explosive seals was it required chakra for operation, even those set on a timer and therefore only he could use them. One unique observation between a standard military grenade and his paper bombs was that paper bomb leaned more towards an incendiary explosion while grenades were almost completely concussive.

After having discovered the useful combat seals, the clone was re-tasked to work on more passive seals that maintained passive effects over a period of time. Currently this was being practiced on paper, however in time Naruto was hoping to create seals on the ground like a proper seal master rather than relying on paper to generate an desired effect, (similarly to the summoning technique).

Lastly for Senjutsu Naruto (the original) spent at least 4 hours moving in and out trying to gather natural energy at a greater speed. Again he was still too young, however overtime he was hoping he would adapt more naturally as he grew and take natural energy in more easily. With his progress on sage mode it now only took him 30 minutes to enter and could maintain it for 1 full minute. Although it was far from being combat ready, the progress he was making was still an achievement to how long he originally took when he started. In addition practicing sage mode allowed Naruto to scan close by for signs of infected or other humans making their way into the sewers. Naruto could still rely on clones to work on gathering natural energy, however he needed them to prioritise on other tasks at the moment and the idea would be a hindrance in combat since clones would be more useful by his side rather than being spent gathering natural energy.

**Winter**

Winter had approached and as expected the community was prepared food wise thanks in part to the storage scrolls and all work in stockpiling supplies in autumn. The use of scrolls as storage was the perfect solution as fresh meat and food were easily stored and maintained freshness once released. With the newly designed passive seals Naruto was able to calibrate the scrolls to allow the community to access stored items in the specified scrolls, as such Naruto's scavenge needs were severely lower than that of the previous year and instead mainly went out to scout anything useful for the community such as wood, cement or even new materials and furniture.

Water was now in good supply as snow was collected and melted then stored. They no longer needed to filter through different devices he had collected in autumn due to the emergency needs and was now being stored away for future use. Still Naruto collected any sizeable containers he could find to ensure there wasn't another repeat of water shortage. Additionally Naruto had participated in the operation of snow melting as he was the one that mainly went to the surface to collect snow and bring it down to the community to melt.

In terms of community and relationships Naruto had fully integrated into the community and was greatly respected and loved by everyone. His relationships for the normal friends in the community didn't change much over the course of the winter, however for Cassandra and Mary he was growing closer to them and they to him. He was unsure how to handle the situation as he had feelings for both, but didn't want to come between the siblings relationship. He would have to talk to them later about this development.

Naruto was more free during this winter asides from the occasional scavenges and scouting missions he ran and as a result had time to focus himself and his clones on training and studies. Naruto (original) continued to work on chakra control as well as building reserves and Senjutsu. So far the progress has been little in all areas asides from chakra control which he began spending more time on after all he needed greater control for medical jutsu he was going to perform on Mary later. When he told Cassandra and the family the problem with Mary and what solutions he had they were shouting for joy at her chance at life. All Naruto had to do was finish up the minimum bits of the surgery to ensure complete success of the operation.

From research books scavenged in library's and medical facilities as well as constantly practicing and training his mystical palm technique, he was able to improve his ability to analyse medical problems in the body and provide a greater level of healing capabilities almost comparable to a graduated medical ninja, however he was still far from the level of Sakura and Tsunade. Looking back he could see why they were greatly respected in their talent in the medical field.

Naruto was currently focusing his medical studies towards anatomy and surgical studies to help cure Mary of cancer soon. In truth from the point of view of normal doctors and surgeons the cancer was far too spread and she was likely to die in a couple of years, however for him as a ninja practicing medical techniques it was still possible to cure her within the year so long as he knew the method, had the necessary chakra control and was prepared to follow through with the surgery.

For his Jutsu Arsenal Naruto was still having trouble perfecting the 'Wind style concussive air bullet technique', however he is expected to master this technique to a level where he no longer needed to use  
hand signs by spring. He would still need to shout out the technique and would get past that hindrance later, right now with his breakthrough in medical techniques Naruto had prioritise the clones to focus more on medical jutsu as soon as possible.

For the final clone that prioritised on sealing techniques his only progress during this time was his new ability to set small genjutsu traps to temporarily disorientate the enemy without having to use paper tags. He called it genjutsu seal trap, all he had to do now was touch the surface of an area for the trap, concentrate and expel chakra into his hand. He originally began by drawing on the surface, but with continual practice Naruto had managed to adapt his chakra to draw the disorientation seal on the surface. Now he the clone was redirected to spend more time on creating passive seals as well as studying and improving the mystical palm technique for the success of the operation later in the year.

**Spring 2nd year**

It was now early into spring and the snow had melted away. The community was preparing for another year of success, renewable food was being brought in with large supply and water was completely stored in the containers they had or the water scrolls Naruto had made a long while back. The community was well armed and protected and the population was happy. Things were good in the community.

For Naruto it was the same. Looking back in the year he had seen just how far he had come after his defeat in the 4th Shinobi war and his failure to protect his family and friends. Now Naruto had a new dream to see his new family and friends happy and well protected and to see Mary walk out of the medial room strong. Naruto was spending his time as well as his clones to finalise his work for the surgery, it is expected to be done some time soon in the year and he wanted to make sure he was happy. Many things had developed in the last year which he was happy about. His relationship with the community was at an all-time high and his time spent with Mary and Cassandra had been wonderful as if he were in a dream itself. Everything was looking good.

It was now night. Naruto had stayed up throughout the night improving his mystical palm technique and training his chakra control and reserves trying to push them beyond their current level. He was exhausted and it was very late, or rather very early in the morning and he was hours behind his standard 4 hour sleeping schedule and to top it off he would need to sleep additional hours to recover his chakra completely. No matter he knew he was safe and that the guards can handle themselves and it was totally worth the trouble if it would help cure Mary.

Naruto felt the pendant at his neck, pulled it in front of him and opened it up to look inside. The pendant was a gift he had gotten for his 7th/ 18th birthday from Mary and Cassandra and inside was a photo of him and Cassandra next to Mary who was sitting up on the bed, smiling (see short stories below). He liked it and was one of the only few birthday gifts he had ever received and it was a nice replacement to the first Hokage's necklace he had destroyed before the war. Closing the picture pendant Naruto began traveling to the armoury to drop off his day equipment, then moved to bed happy with how things were going and looking forward to the next day.

However before he slept Naruto just couldn't shake the uneasy feeling he was having…

**End **

**(Read the short stories below as they help better understand the relationship with Naruto and the community).**

**The Community Short stories:**

**Naruto and the toilet:**

Naruto was pissed, no beyond pissed. He needed to use the portable potty now! He had accidentally eaten something off from a can and needed to go 'kami I miss Kurama now more than ever' he all but internally wept at his current predicament. Presently Naruto's immune condition is strong but it doesn't mean it deals with all problems. Since Kurama is gone his immune system has been stained to keep him healthy and alive, especially against the fungal outbreak so there were now times he could get sick... like now.

There were other toilets in the sewers sure but he was here already and one toilet was currently in repair while the other was occupied for 30 MINUTES ALREADY! He was sure to get the point across that he NEEDED TO GO with the shouting and banging on the door. He needed to go RIGHT NOW! and he couldn't risk it any more 'fuck it I'm running to the other toilet' was his though.

This was a huge risk since it was a 3 minute run for him and he wasn't sure he could keep it in till then let alone arrive and have to wait for somebody else. Regardless he took off hoping to relieve himself when he arrived.

As soon as Naruto left the portable toilet in the Central Chambers door opened and out stepped Jason with an evil smirk on his face. 'Revenge sure is sweet'...

**Naruto and the Children:**

Naruto although 17 was stuck in a kid's body and was at times considered a child in the eyes of everyone even with all he did for the community and it continued to piss him off. Currently Naruto was enjoying what little free time he had and was passing by the nursery also doubled over as a kid's room. "Hi big brother, want to play with us" said a young girl in a cute voice. This child was named Jessica and was Jason and Julie's daughter as well as a friend to Naruto.

To the children Naruto was seen as the older brother who loved them and protected them from the bad guys outside while providing them with needs and wants. Sometimes if they wanted something like a book, some toys or teddy bears he would return from his scavenge trip with them and if he was free he would spend some time out of his day to play with them. To them he was the best big brother they could wish for.

"Sure let's play, after I'll read you a story or two". He replied, the children of various ages smiled and the babies even giggled. It was going to be a fun day for them.

40 minutes later:

"…the prince and the prince princess lived happily ever after." Naruto completed his story to the children who were paying rapt attention to him. Naruto took this time to look around and noticed a sizeable crowd of adults watching him including Cassandra. He looked towards Cassandra and she smiled to him, happy. He smiled back.

**Children and the drawing**

"Hi big brother I drew you… can you please see?" asked Jessica in her usual cheerful voice.

"Sure, but I'll have to make this quick, big bro is a little busy today little sis" Naruto replied with an upbeat attitude to satisfy Jessica.

Jessica smiled and proceeded to drag Naruto across the central chambers to the nursery. Once there she looked through the shelves to find her drawing while Naruto waited patiently with a smile.

"Here big bro, Do you like the picture?"

"Naruto calmly took the drawing out of her hand and looked down. The drawing was done on paper, slightly brown with dirt and slightly faded. On the drawing were three figures, there was a figure of Danny in what looked roughly like his S.W.A.T. uniform he usually wore and holding a roughly drawn assault rifle. He was drawn with a smile on his face, different from his usual stern expression and was wearing what looked like a cap or a helmet, Naruto didn't know. Above him his name was printed out easily signifying the figure as Danny.

To right of the drawings was another figure drawn. Ish from what he could tell from the baldness and his name printed on top of the figure. He too was kitted out with S.W.A.T uniform he sometimes wore with a gun on his back. He had a smile plastered on his bald head with 2 dots for his eyes and was drawn with a more thin physic in comparison to Danny.

Lastly in the middle of Ish and Danny stood another smaller figure with the name Naruto printed just below. It was a picture of him and although drawn roughly was kind of nice, it just made his day. He analysed how he looked and unlike his counter parts he was drawn at half their body height with a black hoodie and red lines stretching out of his left breast and blue pants. He had his left arm crossing his upper body with what appeared to be a black knife in hand and his right was at his side with a roughly drawn pistol. His face was drawn circular with blond hair jumping out of the top of his head like grass and had a headband drawn on his head with a metal plate and the symbol of Konoha. Just like Danny and Ish he too had a smile on his face with 2 black eyes.

He looked further down and read the words below him, Ish and Danny. 'our protectors'. Naruto couldn't but smile happily at that and although it was roughly drawn he liked the picture and it was nice for Jessica to draw it.

"I love it Jessica" he responded to her with a giant smile on his face

"Come here and get a hug from big bro".

"Yay" was her immediate response as she dived into Naruto's arms.

**Naruto and Cassandra: The Camera**

Over the course of his stay Naruto and Cassandra have grown extremely close, a relationship comparable to big sister and little brother with a hint of something else. *wink**wink*. Right now Naruto was showing Cassandra one of the items he had managed to scavenge in *fanfiction* city. It was an old fashioned camera that was built in with its own printer for the taken picture and he managed to get it to work.

He had raided the entire camera store in the mall and took what he could get his hands on which included old and new cameras that had a small printer inside. He took what supplies he could find as well as all printing material needed so as soon as he got them to work there were plenty of pictures he could take. As such he decided to take it to Cassandra first.

"Hey Cassandra I managed to get the old fashioned camera to work, want to try it out you can be my first photo for the photo book I'm making" he asked hopeful for the picture.

"Sure, we'll take one together and one separately. I'll go first". She supplied casually

Naruto brought the camera to his face and said "ready 1, 2, 3".

There was a flash and in a second or two the photo came out. In a minutes time the photo was finished and they observed the results satisfied. Cassandra then proceeded to take a picture of Naruto alone and followed the same process. Then when they took it together things were slightly different and they managed to get Ish to take the photo of both of them.

Cassandra knelt down to meet Naruto's level and Ish then preceded with the photo "1, 2, 3, say cheese".

Just before the photo was taken Cassandra kissed Naruto on the cheek and he blushed flustered at the sudden contact. The photo eventually came out and Ish left with slightly laughing at their predicament.

On the photo was Cassandra kissing Naruto while he was blushing with a loss for words expression on his face. Naruto blushed again and was momentarily lost to the world and didn't notice Cassandra walking away with a smirk on her face and an extra sway on her hips.

"Be sure to take as many photos as you can and keep it in that photo book you're making. Have fun" Cassandra giggled at Naruto's expression still confused over what happened and left to her duties.

Naruto eventually came out of his daze and looked to Cassandra's retreating form; he kind of liked the photo and was definitely a keeper. He was definitely going to enjoy using the camera.

**Naruto and Mary: Hospital visit**

Over the course of his stay Naruto spent what time he could to visit the 8 year old Mary in the makeshift med room either alone or with Cassandra and her parents when they had time. He had liked the girl and her spirit to remain positive, even throughout her condition. He was studying medical Jutsu and learning what he could from the memories of watching granny Tsunade and Sakura perform their techniques. It was very slow progress, but progress none the less. He wanted to find something that can help Mary and cure her condition. But for now he would visit her and entertain her with a story or two about his past adventures.

Naruto entered through the door of the medical room with flowers in hand and a vase. Over the course of his scavengers Naruto took what he could find that could be useful for the medical room. Some include solar powered battery light, some white paint, bindings to stop the leakage from the pipes overhead, a new cupboard and of course medical supplies. So far the make shift medical room was becoming more of a hospital room and looked much better than it did in the past.

Naruto walked up to Mary's bed and noticed her sleeping peacefully. He decided to put the flowers in the vase on the shelf of the table. Something to improve the mood of the room and brought a few picture books and novels for Mary to read. Mary noticed the sounds in the room and woke up. She noticed Naruto, "Hey Naruto *cough* here for a visit, you're so sweet".

"Of course Mary, want to keep you happy after all" he replied cheerfully. He moved to take a seat and sat beside her bed. "Want to hear the story of how I became a gennin?"

"Yea, that would be nice".

"Ok well it starts….".

20 minutes later

"And embarrassingly he poked my butt with the thousand needles of death technique and I flew a good 20 meters". Naruto finished

"hehe… that is embarrassing" she giggled softly then continued.

"you know, I like how calm and peaceful things are right now…. Naruto. Thanks for keeping us safe".

"Of course, you're my family now".

"and you are mine".

Naruto and Mary instinctively reached in for a kiss, however

"*cough* *cough*, am I interrupting something?" Cassandra sounded of a bit embarrassed at what was happening.

They quickly moved apart and Naruto quickly replied

"No… No… nothing at all".

Naruto and Danny: Training

Naruto, Danny and the other security personnel have grown close. Through the time Naruto has spent with the community great leaps were made in sewer expansion. One such expansion led to new rooms being brought about one having been refurbished recently to become a more centralised training room.

Naruto came up to the entrance of the training room or what he prefers to call 'dojo'. He prepared himself for the next class he was going to teach. The room was designed so people had access to a room to train and improve their combat capabilities. As such there was a shooting range branched off in the chamber along with an open space for the main training room along with gym equipment. To maximise safety Naruto had scavenged gym mats to allow practice for and against take down moves to deal with infected in close combat.

Naruto entered through the door, "afternoon sensei" Danny and several other guards sounded off in preparation for their next lesson. Naruto smirked. He was always was a slave driver and the guards knew it, but they can definitely say they have improved leaps and bounds with his training. To them it was just another day in the community.

**Naruto and the poem book**

Naruto was looking through the library in *fanfiction* city for any good children books he could bring back to the community. He had to hurry since he was surrounded by infected and didn't want to have to fight more than he needed to.

Naruto was now looking through the children's room and found several useful books he could give to them. He noticed one book in particular that shouldn't have been in the section.

Naruto picked up the book and read the front title, 'poems of old'. He wasn't sure if he should put the book down so he figured why not and stored the book in his smaller scroll for keeping.

Sometime later…

"What' cha reading?" asked Cassandra curious since she had only seen him read medical files and text books all to improve himself, help the community and most of all to help Mary.

Naruto didn't reply straight away almost lost in the book, then "I'm reading this poem book I found in the library, thought it would be interesting and looked through it. Truly the poems shape words to give insight to life, want me to read you one?"

"Whoa I asked what you were reading not your life story, but no thanks I got to help out with the pot farm harvests… maybe later". She said happy with Naruto's gesture either way.

"Sure, maybe later…".

**Naruto and Ish the founder**

Naruto was currently free and so was Ish so he decided to get to know him better.

"So Ish how'd you end up founding this place" Naruto asked curious.

"Well when the pandemic hit I was out at sea, however had to eventually come ashore. I eventually stumbled to this place and figured I set up shop here since it was easily defendable and such, that was like 11 years ago or so, it was a while ago".

"Wait you were alone, how'd you start the community up?"

"Well I had plenty of ammo and supplies, but no food so I eventually stumbled out to the suburbs to find something to eat. I eventually came across Kyle and Susan with their kids who were younger then and were just barely getting by. I was surprised at first since kids tended to die first being left behind, were abandoned or killed for being too weak and slow outside military zones. We eventually talked and traded and my loneliness drove me to eventually invite them into my fort. Eventually more good people looking for shelter showed up and things just progressed from there". Ish supplied informatively to the blond.

Naruto contemplated his words and reasoning. Ish was right after all no one could live life alone forever.

Naruto and Ish then continued to talk getting to know each other into the night.

**Naruto abilities:**

***Normal rasengan (kid Naruto uses without need of shadow clone)**

***Shadow clone (2 clones currently)**

***Hendge/ Transformation (simple changes)**

***Body replacement technique (wooden material)**

***Sage mode (30 minutes entering, 1 minute maintain)**

*** Wind release concussive air bullets ()**

**Medical:**

***Mystical palm technique (good analysis and minor healing)**

**Fuinjutsu:**

***explosive notes, tags , paper ball bombs, **

***genjutsu seal trap (surface touching for trap)**

***creating sealing scrolls**

**Currently unavailable:**

***Odama rasengan**

***Double Odama rasengan**

***rushenshuriken**

***summoning**

***wind manipulation on weaponry (edge sharpening)**

**_Additional comments:_**

**So how was the chapter Good, Bad? Did I miss something? If so PM or review and I'll endeavour to fix it up.**

***important* I'll be updating the US city shortly in like the next week or so. Tests have been stalling me**

**When I post chapters I will most likely update the existing chapters down the road to improve it or make it more presentable while cleaning any errors in the story I can find. As you've noticed I'm rushing chapters out since my free time will be strained pretty soon and I tend to make errors in my rush. That's why I'd like constructive reviews to fix anything bad down the road.**

**Also I'd like more reviews. Helps me push to finish the story**

**If there is something you'd like to see please post it as a review and if I think it's good I may add it. For now I have a general plot line for the story in my head. **

**Also I don't plan to abandon this story, EVER until I complete it so expect many updates.**


	9. Chapter 9 The Ark of Truth part 3

The Last of Naruto

Personal note, please read:

Hi there readers, I know most of you are likely pissed that I couldn't update for more than 5 weeks, the reason being I have a very busy life outside fanfiction, rather I had barely been able to find time to write this off. Before you think bullshit, I'm a uni student in the middle of studying engineering and am part time working for expenses. If that didn't piss you off, what I will say next definitely will. I actually had pretty much finished this chapter like 3-4 weeks ago and only had to do minor edits, yet I became too lazy with my focus on university work. I had only decided to finish this off because I wanted to think of something other than mid semester exams next week and was bored enough to look over my reviews for the story, I was happy to see many people liked it but the lack of reviews was a let down. So yea, sorry for not updating earlier.

There is good news however, I finally got myself a portable MacBook air laptop which I will now use to type fanfiction every time I take the train to university, so that means for you guys and possibly girls that I will maintain writing stories over a period of time. It just won't be fast as the start, which averaged around a chapter every 1 to 2 days. As the mid semester break and holidays are coming around soon I can assure you updates will be coming out more frequently, if not this story any other stories I have ideas for. Now onto comments

Comments/ reviews replies

I am happy I got many positive reviews and actually only had one flame, however since he went into detail why I thought it was funny since he hadn't likely read further than chapter 1 or 2.

For pullbackbro, Heavywolfblade, shoveler, marco2o, Siber D. Wolf, silentdeath2-2, Demonwolf, Bloodyredshade, Ozziebro and guests. Thanks for your positive reviews and I'm glad you like the story so far. I apologise for being late as I mentioned above. There were others I might not have mentioned, however there are comments below for your reviews so I may have responded to you below. If your not there just send me another review. I'd like as many reviews as it helps motivate me to finish this story.

Pullbackbro:

Thanks for the review, I'm happy that you enjoyed my time skip summary, I prefer people going into detail about what happens rather than relying on flashbacks as it can make holes in the story. It was a difficult chapter to produce, but I'm glad you liked it

RadBrad fan:

Sweet, good to know there are people that watch his awesome walkthroughs and read fanfiction as well.

I have some plans for Riley, but you'll have to wait and see

Danfrogger:

It is a temporary thing. I wanted to have his training time seem slower and more reasonable. He won't have to shout the name before casting the jutsu later, but for now he will, simply because I want his progress to seem fair as much as possible.

Flamineus:

Your right I can make Naruto find a sword and use it to channel chakra, he 'might' get one later, I have yet to decide. Most likely will, I just didn't let him have it earlier since I wanted his training time to sound as reasonable as possible to what he would know in the future by the time he meets the main story line of The Last of Us. I'll provide more in later chapters.

Mpire:

I could make a village, however that would deviate significantly from the game timeline. As such the likelihood of him creating a village will be low. Especially since this is more adventure related

Thesilverflash99:

Your right, I was making the point that sage mode attracts infected. I assumed it would cause it is a fungus and something I think is more in tuned with nature (being a recycler from what I remember from science in school), so I have incorporated its effect in the story. In the later chapters, probably next you'll see its effect. Also the reason why the community wasn't over run with infected before is because they were kept out by the sewer structure. Naruto was noticing the rise in infected every time he practiced and took notice of its significance, however I was rushing chapters out and forgot to mention he noticed the rise each time last chapter. Also note that I may use sage mode for a significant part of the story in the future.

Marco2o:

Glad you liked the scavenge clone chapter. I wasn't sure how to deal with it at first, but towards the end I was enjoying it. It was my favourite chapter I produced so far.

Guest:

You had a extremely good guess, but just read on and you'll notice what is happening. As for cities, thanks for the ideas. I have many others as well but never really got around to updating fanfiction city since I am too busy with life as I mentioned before and am mainly focusing on putting out chapters. I will most likely update in the next 2 weeks as a holiday is approaching.

The Epitome of Eccentricity:

You're my first flame ever so congratulations, however had you actually read on you would have noticed that there was a greater meaning in making Naruto younger, for instance he is 16 in canon if I remember correctly. As such I can just jump to the story line and pair him normally. I've seen greater age differences in teens getting it on in real life… Ellie will turn out 14 and Naruto 16 so as such the young argument is invalid. Also I am using this as a chance to get further in depth with the game and Naruto's interaction in the environment. That's why he is mainly young.

Demonwolf1:

Thanks for the positive review, I'm trying to keep as close to the game as I can as it has the perfect crossover atmosphere for me. I'm surprised there is only one other story out in this crossover; it was a great game with the perfect atmosphere. Then again I suppose it is hard to innovate ideas when the story line is good enough that it is extremely hard to implement a character with super powers.

Your right, the items checking is a bit of a put off at times, however I'm trying to improve my interaction with that point and have actually been using previous chapters as a narrative training for future chapters. I think I can implement it well enough that it doesn't effect the story as much in the future.

Ozziebro:

Thanks for the review, as for the pairing your totally right, I will have a pairing and there will be a noticeable focus, but don't expect them to be humping each other so soon, it will have a romantic build up. As for why I mentioned it earlier, I think I may have written it in response to my first flamer as I mentioned above, as I'm not much of a romance guy and don't want anyone put off at the pairing. The focus of romance between Naruto and Ellie will happen later in the story. There will be a time skip so around 3 or 4 chapters down the road things will really progress in the ark.

Ark of truth part 3

Naruto groggily awoke to the sound of gunshots and screaming in the distance, 'wait gunshots? Screaming?' Naruto re-evaluated to himself as he jumped out of his bed in response. It had only taken him a split second to assess situation and for the adrenaline to pump through his body, blasting away his fatigue. Naruto quickly estimated having slept only 2 to 3 hours and as a result he was feeling heavily fatigued and assumed it was due to last night and early morning's training regime. Naruto cursed at that, now was definitely not the time to be feeling tired. He needed to be in tiptop shape if what he heard was anything to go by.

Naruto quickly looked around and spotted Cassandra who had also awoken from the gunshots and screams in the distance and was likely assessing the situation as well. He looked around further and noticed Melissa and Max weren't present in the room, however Naruto couldn't waste anymore time to dwelling on the issue and quickly assumed they were already up and helping the community in one form or another.

It wasn't exactly hard for Naruto or Cassandra to understand what was going on, gunshots and the screams of infected easily pointed them in one direction after all. It was clear that the infected had breached their community, likely from an opening and if they were to survive someone had to plug the hole up.

'How'? Naruto thought as he hurriedly made hand signs for two shadow clones in preparation to defend the community. Naruto and community inspectors had previously made sure several times over that the infrastructure was strong enough to hold the infected out and even set several checkpoints to ensure there wasn't any surprise assaults. With what was happening it either meant that the infected managed enough force to bypass the blockades or someone made a mistake which led to catastrophic results.

Naruto assed his current capability, he was sore, tired and low on chakra reserves due to exhausting himself earlier that morning and with little time for recovery. He was going to have to work with a handicap, something he really didn't want in this situation and to top it off he had stored his primary equipment in the armoury and simply couldn't divert time to collect it till the community was properly secured, or at the very least the central chamber.

At the moment Naruto needed to prioritise his chakra use and ensure his shadow clones were extra careful in engaging in close combat till they could properly equip themselves with knives, guns and ammo. Naruto cursed at this predicament, there was simply no time to prepare and every second wasted would continue to endanger more lives in the community.

No longer exhausting time and effort over the issue Naruto and his clones rushed out of the room closely followed by Cassandra to help defend the community and save what people they could. He glanced back at her as he ran down the central chamber and inspected her quickly with her preparation for the coming fight. He noticed she had a 9 mm handgun in hand, most likely from having slept with it close by and was still in her nightgown having not changed during their quick assessment. It was obvious there was no time to change and prepare and was ill equipped to properly fend off the infected. As such it was going to be especially dangerous for her and Naruto had to be extra careful to ensure she made it out this alive.

'Well at least she was making herself useful', Naruto thought while focusing ahead.

He wanted her to stay back and secure her safety, but that was a delusional thought. There was no way Cassandra would readily agree with what was happening around them and there was no room for argument. Naruto had to prioritise his time first and make himself useful.

Naruto reached the main entrance for the chambers and found the front metal-wired gate busted down. He took a moment to analyse the state of the chambers and so far it was chaos, those who were sleeping out in the open were most likely suffering from the worst morning wake up call of their life and trying to fight off the infected either at close range or with a handgun they usually carried, while those posted on guard duty were busy buying time for the locals by taking on the bulk of the infected from the main entrance. The guards were better equipped to deal with the problem having been on guard duty; however they were severely outnumbered and out maneuvered and weren't likely to survive if any more time was wasted.

Naruto needed to act to ensure the chambers were secure, then he can work his way outside to the source of the problem. He wanted to rush out to get to Mary, however that was an inefficient decision at the moment and would likely result in the death of himself, Mary and the whole community. For now he would focus on the task at hand and hope she was ok later.

Naruto quickly tasked his clones to help secure the chambers and kill any infected already inside while he and Cassandra worked to get the metal bulkhead down. This was the best plan at the moment as he could see they were mainly entering from one location being the broken down barbed fence and closing the steel iron bulkhead would buy time for the survivors to regroup and resupply with more effective weaponry in the armoury. What remained of the security force stationed there was fighting them of as best as they can, however they were struggling to get the bulkhead down. He needed to interfere.

Naruto looked at what weapons he had. The clones weren't equipped with any weapons but that can be easily resoled as they fought on inside the chambers. For the moment he only had a combat knife, which he kept on him at all times. It wasn't enough to fight them all off and plug the main hole they were entering, but he knew he had to start small first. He had to be quick and activate the emergency button.

Naruto (original) rushed to the entrance with Cassandra following close by taking shots at any infected in their way and assisting any survivors she could see in combat with the infected. She was a good marksman from all her practice in the training room and past experiences with infected, however she couldn't run and shoot at the same time so she took intervals to stop, aim and shoot while Naruto ran in blatant kamikaze to the objective. No words were exchanged prior to engagement, but they knew what needed to be done and were mutually worried for each other. They couldn't focus on conversation now, they had an objective to complete and time was against them.

Naruto had reached the wired fence and noticed the security guards still fighting, 2 fighting in close combat while one other was taking shots at any incoming infected. He noticed several on the ground already having multiple bite marks all over their body and having been shot in the head with blood still pouring out. They were likely infected and quickly turned due to multiple bite marks and needed to be put down to ensure that they couldn't spread the infection further.

In his split second analysis Naruto noticed 2 fallen guards in particular that had caught his attention. It was a male and female, the same ones that greeted him into the chambers on the first day. From what he had heard they had gotten together in a month after he had joined and often greeted him when he returned from his scavenge. Naruto cringed at the thought; they were gone just like his friends in the Shinobi Alliance and more would follow if he didn't take control of the situation. Naruto needed to press the emergency button and close the metal bulkhead.

Ignoring the security guards and their current predicament, Naruto prioritised his main objective and rushed past them with his combat knife in hand aiming to press the emergency button. His presence however didn't go unnoticed by the infected and they lunged at him hoping to take a bite. He dogged most who were eventually taken down from the distance by Cassandra and the freed security guard who likely noticed what he was planning allowing him to advance further.

Naruto dodged more infected maneuvering and jumping through what openings they made, masterfully making his way to the emergency switch. Naruto tried to minimise his use on the combat knife for the moment as attacking would take time, which would result in him being swarmed. Clickers and runners all surrounded him trying to bite and claw at him while Cassandra and what remained of the security tried to buy him movement by taking down those immediately in his way.

Naruto approached the button for the bulkhead, however was too slow in pressing it and an infected clicker took a bite on his arm resulting in immense pain and blood loss. In those few moments Naruto was being swarmed, however not before prying himself free from the clicker and killing it with his combat knife, then managing to take a lunge at the emergency button closing the steel bulkhead and officially cutting off anymore infected making their way through the entrance.

Naruto was still combat capable, however was severely injured and needed to heal himself soon and would do so as soon as he dealt with the infected. Right now he was surrounded and would likely die if he were any normal human, however he wasn't and it had been long enough that he was able to recover enough chakra for a rasengan.

Naruto took a split second to create a rasengan in his hand and aimed forward onto a clicker hoping to kill it and blast an entrance through the swarm of the dozen infected that surrounded him. On a normal day he would have stayed and dealt with the infected alone, but right now he was still tired, hungry, low on chakra and injured. For now he needed to regroup with the security personnel and Cassandra and deal with the remaining infected as a group.

While Naruto and his small group continued to deal with the remaining infected around the sealed breach, the clones had been set on aiding civilians and security personnel scattered throughout the chamber ensuring as many people survived the morning assault, while at the same time properly arming and rallying them to re-establish order.

Fortunately there were only a few runners that had made it in with the bulk of the infected forces preoccupied at the breach and so far there were only a few deaths confirmed from bites in the chamber. From what the clones could see there were only 3 infected runners further inside, much less than Naruto (original) had estimated and it didn't take long to subdue and kill them. With the success of the original in blocking off the breach with the bulkhead steel door, it was only a matter of time till the civilians and security personnel in the chambers regrouped and launched a counter offensive.

Later…

Civilians and security personnel were now completely equipped with proper weaponry acquired from the armoury. Naruto took this time to collect what items he could by equipping his large main storage scroll and a few smaller scrolls by his waist. Inside he had stored several guns and knives acquired from his scavenges as well as medical equipment and some supplies, after all the state of the sewers was in complete question and as much as Naruto wanted to spend time using sage mode to completely analyse the situation, there was simply not enough time to do so. There were others outside the central chambers sleeping in the many rooms scattered throughout the sewers as well as security personnel who had been on guard duty, he simply couldn't spend precious minutes staying still and concentrating. One second passed could mean the additional death of another person and he needed to act ASAP. Naruto took the moment of reprieve the guards and the civilians had used to equip themselves and noticed something he had overlooked in the frenzy.

'Where were Cassandra and Mary's parents?' He thought to himself confused. He hadn't seen them at all yet and he was sure they were in the room by the time he went to sleep a few hours ago.

Naruto walked around inspecting everyone; still he couldn't find any traces of either parent.

'Where are they?' Naruto began to frantically look through the remaining crowd of people he had not inspected and horridly concluded to himself

'Are they outside?' The sudden realisation frightened Naruto. If they were outside, they were likely dealing with the infected horde.

He needed to leave now.

He could guess where they were headed and assumed it was to visit Mary after all neither had any early morning security shifts. Naruto hoped they made it to the medical room and barricaded themselves at any sign of trouble; he shuddered at the thought of what would happen and what he would find if he didn't.

Naruto looked around for Cassandra and had noticed her frantically searching and assumed she was catching on to the situation. Naruto approached the now heavily armed Cassandra with a sewed of shotgun in hand while an assault rifle and pistol as her secondary. Cassandra noticed his approach and with desperate eyes pleading for a solution, she looked at him. Naruto already knew what was happening and what he needed to do on top of searching for other survivors and securing the primary entrance infected are using to get in. He knew he couldn't leave Cassandra with the other survivors as she would likely run off on her own if she didn't partner with him on the search and rescue mission, it was her family out there after all. So with an uncertain heart Naruto cleared his throat and spoke.

"Cassandra, I know you know your parents aren't here and are likely outside. I think they were heading to the Medical wing. I'm going to check it out. I assume already your coming along right?" Naruto spoke seriously, after all it was an extremely serious situation and their success or failure would mean the survival or destruction of the community.

The roughly re-organised community in the central chambers had Susan and Ish as the primary leaders and made plans to defend and take back the community, while searching and securing survivors that were outside and had survived the initial onslaught. The likelihood many survived was low, especially since accommodation was mainly open and even the usually happy and cheerful Susan was distraught having found out her husband Kyle and the children were outside the safe zone. She had tried to rush off on her own in hopes to save her family, however Ish had stopped her stating she was more use acting as a leader to plan their next moves.

Naruto (original) on the other hand was going to partner with Mary while his other 2 clones would be working together to search for any survivors and either escort them back or secure them in an area for safety till they managed to cover the breach.

Naruto, Cassandra, most of the locals and what few remained of the security begun to fortify the chambers to act as a counter point to the infected. This would be temporary until Naruto could locate the infected entry point and plug it up.

Naruto, Cassandra and his clones moved out heading out the back way by climbing up the ladder from the nursery and made their way to the medical wing, so far there was no sign of infected, nor any survivors, that was until they reached a fork in the road where one led towards the medical room, while the other towards the additional entrance to the community and the key resting points such as the library, games room and laundry place. Little was exchanged between Naruto, Cassandra and his clones, but that was expected with how desperate the situation was. Cassandra's family and Naruto's way of life was in danger.

'Mary', Naruto thought worriedly.

The clones took the path to the alternate entrance of the community. They had been equipped with an assault riffle, a sewed off shotgun and the standard secondary 9mm pistols as weapons while also holding backpacks with a few med kits and supplies for on site medical aid. They had enough chakra to do the 'mystic palm technique', however the chakra was limited and needed to be conserved for hits and emergency techniques (hit points and chakra points associated). This was especially important since if any of the clones dispelled the original could create a new clone, but the distance it would require to re-travel was a point of concern as time was important to the survival of community. The more time they wasted, the more likely more infected would show up.

The clones travelled down to the other focal point in the community, which was based just after the second entrance. As they progressed they encountered runners, clickers and even stalkers, however by being properly equipped with a shotgun and an assault rifle, the clones were able to pick off the infected from the distance without having to resort to close combat.

As they approached the second focal point of the community where garrison guards mainly stationed themselves, the more they saw the carnage that was left in the wake of the infected assault. So far they had found bodies of civilians and security personnel with bite marks around there body and a bullet to the head, other times they saw infected who were once the people he loved and protected. He was too late for them.

The more the clones progressed further into the community, the less confidence they had to the success of the mission with the carnage and fate of community civilians. Still they pressed on.

Suddenly the clones heard the sound of gunshots ringing in the distance. It was coming from the study area and the clones rushed into action. When they got there they found the door open with an infected clicker outside. The clicker was easily felled with the combined attacks from the clones and preceded to rush inside the room, however that was no longer necessary as several runners and stalkers rushed out, attracted to the noise of gunshots. The clones didn't have enough time to register what was going on; rather they took notice at the several runners and stalkers inside, presumed to have busted the door open with brute force.

The clones engaged in combat firing from the distance at first, however due to the reload time associated with the shotgun, 2 runners were able to bull charge towards the clone reloading engaging it in close combat. The clone with the assault rife couldn't provide support due to focusing on a more problematic enemy being a clicker. It didn't take long till more infected to show up, attracted to the fighting and rushed the 2 clones flanking them from the front and the back.

By know the clones were engaged in close combat, one using a kunai and the other using a combat knife. Fortunately for them Naruto had been polishing his taijutsu capitalising on his size, agility and stamina for combat, rather than his old brawl style fighting style and as a result the clones were able to manuver around each attack or lunge the infected runners and clickers continually attempted. In response they shoved their weapon through the head eliciting its instant death, or beheading, or cut throating them.

When the walkway was cleared out the duo made their way inside the study area rushing in each step, but remaining alert, aware that there might be more infected showing up. Once they made it past the doorway the clones looked around.

Clone POV

I looked around the study we had entered cautiously. It was just one of the 3 other studies we had set up around in the community simply because there wasn't a room large enough to accommodate all the books accumulated over time, especially when the elderly saw it as a way to preserve the old world. As such we separated the books in terms of classes such as logistical knowledge and survival in one room and another set up for studies and pass times. I and the other clone walked through the open door. I noticed the handle was busted, likely from the force exerted by the infected. Still we walked in, cautious in every step we took.

Inside we were greeted by 2 stalkers hiding out likely waiting for us to enter and ambush us in order to sink their teeth into our bodies. They wwre unaware how useless the infection was towards us and the original.

Regardless they were simple creatures driven by the mad desire to infect. 'Predictable' I though silently as I put them down with careful manuvering and a bullet to the head.

I looked forward, ignoring the recent death of the stalkers and noticed something disturbing written on the floor with black crayon.

'They didn't suffer' was written in big, capital and clear word, posing as a prelude to a horrid confirmation as to what was to come.

I looked up from the floor and then around. I already knew there were no survivors with the words and infected being a clear indication. I looked up from the floor and noticed a body slumped by the corner of the lower level of the study next to an out of place white sheet covering stretched out, covering something.

Even from the distance I could tell what was likely under those sheets, but hoped to Kami it wasn't what I was thinking. Regardless of those thoughts I approached the corner.

I looked at the adult body slumped by the corner and as usual I noticed a bullet wound to the head, a gun in one hand and the other holding a note, but that wasn't what I was paying close attention to, rather I recognised the individual slumped against the wall. It was Kyle, one of the key leaders of our group. I had already seen many people of the community victims to the infection, but seeing Kyle like this just made the situation feel that much more morbid.

Slowly I bent down and acquired the bloody note in hand and began reading it in detail.

"We're trapped. I think everyone else is dead. Some of the little ones are with me. I got infected pounding at the door. I don't know how long we'll hold out, especially with that power based infected lurking around. If Ish, Naruto and the others are alive, maybe they can reach us in time. They have to reach us. The lock is breaking; I don't think I have much of a choice left. If it comes down to it I'll make it quick ". The note ended with a large bloody smear. It was obvious what he meant and that made an unsettling feeling in his stomach.

I looked towards my fellow clone that slowly moved aside the white sheets from the bodies of the children. As much as I wanted him to stop and avert my attention elsewhere other than the horrid sight, I knew it was our duty to find out their identities and inform the parents/ guardians of their loss. As much as I didn't want to be the bearer of the bad news, I was in the best position to do so.

As expected from the note the death of the children was quick with a bullet to the head, no doubt Kyle putting down the children to prevent them turning into runners, then doing the deed to himself.

All to prevent a fate far worse than death.

The fate of being infected.

It was a horrifyingly gruesome sight. To see the children I loved and played with dead in front of me. Their eyes were closed as if in an eternal sleep, never to wake up.

It was a merciful death, saving them from horrid fates and facing the reality of the dark world. Still the feeling stung. I couldn't keep this up. I was losing everything again.

I eventually covered the children's bodies with a blanket. I had notice on closer inspection that one particular child was Jessica; she was also sleeping in an endless sleep, never to awaken. It was painful, I failed my precious people again, the children I laughed and played with were gone, innocence taken. I didn't blame Kyle, no he did what was right and I would have done the very same thing. Yet it hurt and I didn't know what to do. Still we needed to push on.

We had to save as many as we could.

We left the room and the clone and I took a brief moment to look back at to those lost due to the infection and the children I had hoped to start anew with. Had anyone been watching they would have though it was quite the sad, yet accurate reflection of my life. Here I am again moving forward again, away from a happy time lost through circumstances beyond my control and power. I was sad.

I looked away and walked on focusing back on my duty to find any survivors.

We had to survive.

The locals and what few remained of the security spent their time fortifying the chambers to act as a counter point to the infected outbreak and began making plans to retake the sewers. If that was not possible, they would have to look at a new area they could escape to, but so far nothing safe came up other than military settlements and even so that was an extremely dangerous gamble since they were not registered in the system and was an extremely dangerous journey. Additionally if they settled anywhere on surface, there would simply be too much reliance on Naruto to provide and protect them and starting renewable supplies once more was an extremely difficult task with infected and hunters lurking about.

There were many rooms outside the central chambers where survivors of the initial onslaught could survive and some areas may not even have been penetrated by the infected, however they needed to act fast. The doors were old and rusted; most could be easily broken into and without the proper equipment to defend themselves and as such the survivors outside the chambers won't last long.

Suddenly there was a loud smash with the crumbling of bricks close by.

Naruto POV

I was worried about Cassandra's parents and the community, but most of my worry was focused on Mary and if she was ok? I had to get to her before anything could happen, I needed to protect her, I promised myself I would and I won't fail again.

I quickly moved down the sewers cutting down and shooting any infected in the way while closely being tailed by Cassandra who provided long range support via her assault rifle. We were making so much noise and more infected poured into our position from behind or from the front further hampering our progress. The medical room was far and with the signs of infected so deep, some even being previous community patrons, the situation was dire and it was getting to me. I only hoped that Cassandra's parents had barricaded the hospital doors in time.

The anxiety of the situation kept pushing me forward. I was tired, my muscles fatigued and my friend and family were in danger and dying. This all worked to hamper my concentration and I was making many mistakes in combat. Had I not lacked speed and agility by even a little, I would have been chomped on. Fortunately Cassandra was a good shot and provided the necessary support to avoid any close situations.

We continued towards the medical room and the usual 13-minute journey ended up taking over 45 with more and more infected showing up as we progressed further. Things weren't looking good.

We eventually reached the medical room and so far there were only signs of infected with no survivors as of yet. Still I hung onto hope in finding Mary alive and well.

She was in the medical room.

The most easily defendable room in the entire sewers being strategically apt in barricading against infected or otherwise. I prepared myself and opened the door, wishing that there were some resistance holding me back, yet I walked through and witnessed the most horrific sight that would be forever etched into my memories.

Inside there was Mary and her parents Melissa and Max, however that was not what had shocked me. There were infected inside the room already with Mary and her parents covered in blood and bites, but most disturbing was Mary and the infected were gathered around the parents and were continually biting them.

I was stunned at the situation as I looked onwards towards Mary. It only took me a split second to realise what was happening, but I couldn't react. I was lost in my own world. I had failed them.

I was too late and Mary….

Oh Kami Mary….

She was gone…

Infected.

They noticed my presence and looked at me with a snarl as any infected I encountered did. They charged me, hoping to get another meal, yet I could do nothing. I felt numb and barely registered them as they charged. I was simply too far-gone to react, even with all my training and my experiences in the fourth shinobi war till now, I still wasn't prepared enough for this encounter.

I simply didn't know what to do.

I didn't know how to feel.

I felt lost, so much so I barely registered my surroundings through my blurred vision. I had failed; I just wanted this pain to stop.

Fortunately for me Cassandra maintained her focus and understood the situation. She was able to react in time while I remained in a daze. It was obvious she was hurt; it was her family that was now infected. The family she lived, fought and bled for and I understood that pain; yet she managed to retain enough sense for her to shove me back outside out of harms way. I owed her my life in that moment.

I didn't know how long it entire process took as I couldn't register the time as I remained lost in my own world, yet regardless of how vivid the situation was, I was able to register the gunshots and the pained screams from Cassandra. I momentarily woke from my gaze and prepared myself to aid Cassandra, however before I could proceed back into the medical facility the next thing I saw was Cassandra rushing out the door and barricading it with her M4. The entire ordeal was vivid in my eyes and I barely registered Cassandra shouting my name and shaking me back into reality.

I looked up at her with flooded eyes, it was blurry, yet I could still see her hetrochromic eyes glowing through my blur and staring back at me in worry and pain. I noticed she was hurt and bleeding by her arm.

She noticed my stare and hid her arm behind her back in attempt to hide the problem.

Shakily asked her, hoping I was wrong "were… were you bit?"

I was worried, there was nothing I could do if she was and I would lose yet another precious person on top of Mary, Melissa and Max. It would mean I was too late, unfocused and weak causing the death of another precious person. I didn't know if I could bear it again.

Cassandra didn't reply for a few tense seconds with the only sound of the infected banging behind the door. She avoided my gaze for the few tense seconds till she managed enough courage and looked down at me with pained eyes and a sad smile plastered on her face.

Slowly she moved her blood soaked arm forward showing me the extent of her wound. I looked at over and over hoping that it was a just a horrible joke she made to get at me, but I knew there was no way it could be, the situation was simply too serious for a joke.

For a long time I couldn't say anything, trying in vain attempt to register what was happening so suddenly, how everything had turned upside down within the span of a few hours. It was only yesterday when everything looking good and everyone was happy. But now I could only look at the wound with disbelieving eyes, fully understanding how cruel this world was.

Cassandra was bitten.

Additional comments:

So how was the chapter, there are a couple of things I may edit in the future, but if I keep editing I'll never get it out and you're here for the story anyway. Still there may be edits in the future and as I read it once it felt like something was missing. I personally think this may have been my worst chapter produced in this story, but considering I had other priorities as I wrote this, please understand.

Things are progressing towards the end of the ark, for those that are pissed at my approach to the OC's, they were simply too cumbersome and I had already planned the scenario before I had even began writing this story.

I apologise for not keeping to my promised schedule, however as I mentioned above I am a very busy person. I will still do a massive update, however that will be in the holidays following this week and it lasts for 2 weeks so it is a good time for me to update while sending out new chapters.

Also please review as any good reviews help motivate me to complete the story and new ideas would help improve it.


	10. Chapter 10 The Ark of Truth part 4

Last of Naruto

**Authors note:**

**Yeah, sorry for not updating sooner. I have no excuse. I was on holidays and I got so lazy I didn't do much uni work or typing. Truth was most of this was completed a week ago and I just got too lazy to continue, so my bad… I had planned to release a chapter a day and get to the main storyline so sorry for being extremely lazy. I will endeavor to work on this story when I can.**

**There may be quality issues with chapters as I'm more into pumping out stories rather than good edits so mention any ptoblems you have in reviews or PM's**

**Comments:**

**Demonwolf1, Bloodyredshade, Ozziebro, eniox27, marco2o, DHB-Spike, something, Btigeriz, Collin Oshea, Urahara144, God of storms, FallenLucifersAngel, Iarmmason and Guests.**

**Thanks for the positive reviews; you work to keep me inspired to write.**

**Demonwolf1 and Littica Marek:**

**Thanks for your review. I'm going to minimise the importance of supply lists from now on. Rather I won't add them anymore, or at least until further down the track, but they will play little to no importance. I simply wanted to try and stick with the game where supplies were an important aspect. But that's starting to prove extremely hard for the moment.**

**Ozziebro:**

**Your right there and I do have a plan with romance with Ellie, but that's later down the track. Right now as you can see this leans towards a romance/drama. I should change the genre to drama, but in reality I was hoping to have 3 genre's advertised as my story would be pretty focused on each.**

**DHB-Spike:**

**I plan to change the name some time this year, but I'm just busy. I think you readers would prefer me spending time completing a chapter rather than editing over and over again, I'll go back to it when I'm more free and not as lazy.**

**Something:**

**There will be a flash forward soon, or another ark I plan to make. But flash forward with summary seems more appropriate as I don't want to keep on dawdling on the side stuff.**

**Guest:**

**For Naruto falling to depression, you'll have to read and find out, but with what is happening, most likely for the time being**

**Guest:**

**Good point, I actually don't know much how guns operate, especially since it is illegal in Australia. I guess in this case fully auto with recoil affecting him.**

**God of storms:**

**Never plan to abandon the story, releases may be slow for a time but I'm hoping to have finished the story by the end of the year.**

**Ddragon21:**

**Good point, but I don't plan to have him meet Ellie till the story line. He will teach her what he knows since she is still young but that's not till later down the track.**

**The Last of Naruto**

**The Ark of Truth part 4**

Naruto POV

I looked at Cassandra's arm, unbelieving at what I was seeing. She was bitten and it was all over for her. Before I could continue to mull over situation, Cassandra spoke up.

"Naruto, I know this looks bad, but we need to focus right now. People are counting on us". She spoke sternly, trying her best to hide the hopelessness in her voice. And why not, it was over for her, just like Mary and the family.

I spoke up after a few tense seconds staring into Cassandra's hetrochromic eyes. "What… What about Mary and…. and your family". I spoke up stumbling in my words, trying to recover what emotional stability I could.

Another few tense seconds passed before Cassandra spoke up. Her short bangs covering her eyes, trying its best to hide the flurry of emotions behind them.

"They're… They're still inside. I…I couldn't put them down… there were too many, too fast. I… I think we should leave them till we finish securing the community. We need to focus on the present". She spoke solemnly as tears slowly poured down. It was clear the whole situation was getting to her and there was nothing left we could do.

Still I hoped for the best and prepared the mystical palm technique and applied it to her arm. I looked over and over for 10 minutes unable to find a way to fight off the infection. I was loosing everything again and it was happening too fast. I didn't know if I could take it.

Fortunately for us we heard a loud bang in the distance followed by a vibration along the floor, breaking us out of our reverie. I analysed the direction the vibrations and sounds were coming from and realized it was coming from the direction of the main chambers.

Feeling stressed and uneasy about the whole situation, I quickly wiped away what remained of my tear-stained face and firmed my resolve to help. We had a job to do and we had to move.

Clone POV:

The other clone and I continued to search for the breach as well as any survivors from the initial onslaught. So far we weren't having any luck and by the time we reached any potential hold out zones, we arrived to late. The survivors had been either killed by themselves or had been infected.

There were cases we found community personnel mauled to death with torsos and limbs torn apart, most part missing along with large holes and dents in the wall's close by. There were even times we found potential safe zones missing the door as if something had rammed through with brute force and every time there were signs of large scale struggles against something. Whatever that something was, it was strong.

'A new type of infected?' I thought to myself concerned at the prospect of an unknown being the cause of outbreak.

Breaking out of my assumption I looked around the room we had currently entered towards the end of our search and identified what I assumed to be 3 bodies of security personnel scattered around. I at least really hoped it was only 3 bodies, but as I counted the amount of limbs scattered, there was an uneven number of arms and legs to torsos signifying there were more bodies than I had initially estimated. It was simply too hard to tell. There wasn't a single complete body inside the room, all were dismembered, shredded and scattered across the room. Infected generally didn't behave in this manner, limbs usually stayed on the dead till the host was infected.

I looked around at the stomach churning room. The room was literally bathed in body parts and blood. There were significant signs of struggle. The desks and bookcases were knocked down and overturned and the walls had dents and holes as if something was struggling to push through.

Not only was the level of struggle problematic, the entrance that we came through was missing. Something had bulldozed straight through the front as well as a through the large opening opposite at the back wall. An area connected to an additional sewer independent of the community and it was clear that this was the area the infected horde had entered.

I further analysed the bodies that were lying about and concluded from what remained of the uniform that they were a response team sent to investigate and quarantine the area, yet their attempts proved fruitless against the horde.

With the way the breach was created it meant there was a new infected running about with enough brute strength to create the breach and if that was the case there could be multiple entries where infected were pouring in. It wasn't looking good for the community.

Still we had to move and blockade the breach, there was another area we had to investigate, a checkpoint of sorts where another branch of the community resided. It was near the secondary entrance to the community near the pipe by the ocean where Ish had entered and founded the community. It was the last checkpoint we had to check so we moved back out to conclude our search.

We moved back out to the sewer passageway near the laundry area and close by the study where we found Kyle and the children. We had locked the gate to prevent infected from attacking us from behind and so far it was keeping them out.

Deciding it was best to block the passageway from the breach, we gathered what crates and barrels we could and pilled it up on the passage. Of course infected had noticed our presence during the move and began pouring in from the breach, but we were sufficiently equipped to deal with them from afar while continuing our mission to block the passage.

It took a while, but in the end the main breach was blocked off and fewer infected would be entering into what remained of the community. It is prevalent now that the cause of the outbreak be contained and the new infected be put down as soon as possible.

After we had checked the checkpoint finding no bodies or survivors my fellow clone and I concluded our mission was over and we dispelled to let the original know of our findings.

Naruto original POV

I received the memories from my clones, all the deaths and losses of the people I know. It was clear they hadn't found any survivors. What concerned me was the conclusion my clones came to of a new infected having broken down the wall of a safe room and leading the horde of infected into the community.

This was a concern I had to deal with as Cassandra and I rushed back to the main chambers, worried at what disaster we would find.

Eventually Cassandra and I managed to make our way to the bulkhead with minimal time due to the infected having been dealt with prior, only to find it open followed by screams and gunshot inside.

Worried at what was happening we made our way inside.

Third POV

Naruto and Cassandra rushed through the entrance to the main chambers finding the bulkhead open and the area in complete chaos. Everywhere they looked there were bodies, blood and bullet casings scattered all over. The sounds of screams, groans and bullets were prevalent and loud, working in tandem with the environment to perpetuate a chaotic effect. It was clear people were dying in the droves and with the amount of infected already inside and more pouring in; it wasn't likely much could be saved.

Still they had to try.

Naruto having experienced loss and death throughout the day was already use to the sight and it didn't take long for him to analyse the situation and act. As the situation barley stunned him, he leapt into action and created 2 clones equipping them with assault rifles from his waist scroll. This was done as their primary engagement would be long range support as Naruto (the original) would be too preoccupied in close range combat to continually make new clones, as such the clones survival was vital. Cassandra as usual would provide long range support and stood side by side with the clones and began shooting any infected she could see.

Naruto (the original) engaged in close combat firing sporadically with his handgun while maneuvering in close quarters to deal with the bulk of the infected. Cassandra and the clones followed close by and provided support by taking shots at infected interfering with Naruto's slaughter as well as others about to engage from the distance, all while doing their best to stay well away from the entanglement of bodies.

Their continual resistance however didn't go unnoticed as more and more infected of all kinds changed towards them. Fortunately though, Naruto with his close combat focus took the bulk of their attention and each passing moment more and more infected fell to his combat knife expertise or by a bullet from his gun.

Eventually their numbers dwindled to more manageable levels freeing up their focus and mobility, however this freedom didn't last.

A load roar with the trembling of the ground gave way to a gigantic infected charging Naruto.

This infected however was vastly different to its counterparts. Each step it took caused a small but noticeable tremor that would slightly disorientate any human facing off against it. Its head was similar to that of a clicker, however if one were to look closer the bipedal plates growing off its head were significantly larger and its jaw being monstrously large with blood oozing off its sharp teeth.

Additionally its body was huge and unlike the bloaters the body was not fat, rather it appeared larger and more muscly with protective layers of plates acting as armored scales. Its roar was load and terrifying to the unprepared and clearly this infected was the one responsible for the breach causing the deaths of countless in the community (Think of berserker in Gears of War).

Naruto and Cassandra hadn't seen this kind of infected before. It was new and different from the standard infected they encountered and it was as if the infected themselves were evolving, becoming more deadly and efficient.

It was a frightening thought. The infected already ruled the vastness of the world and for them to grow stronger would spell disaster for all of humanity.

Naruto saw the berserker infected (which he newly named) charge at him. Its large arms pumping at its side like an Olympic runner in the sprint. Its roar hindering what concentration anyone had while frightening the remaining survivors.

As it sped towards Naruto at an amazing speed of 45 km an hour, he reacted in time to roll to the side dodging the behemoth as it sprinted past him and smashed the opposing wall, running right through it. At least now Naruto knew for certain it was the cause of the breach and the wanton trail of destruction the clones had discovered. Still it did nothing to quell the present situation. The community was gone, everyone was dead or dying and what few survivors remained was that.

Few.

There was nothing left to salvage here.

Naruto prepared his counter attack alongside his clones. From what he could see bullets had little to no effect on its armor protected body, the only valid weak point Naruto could see was its head, but again bullets had no effect on it.

This meant Naruto best bet was to use explosive based attacks and fuinjutsu while engaging it in close quarters combat, then when the opportunity arises finish it off with chakra based attacks in order to bring it down.

This was a lot harder than it sounded with it continually rushing towards him at breakneck speeds while at the same time being exceptionally bigger and armored with miniature plates.

Regardless Naruto knew it was best he dealt with it on his own as his clones and Cassandra were better spent dealing with the other infected pouring inside. So in what time he could task before its recovery Naruto commanded his clones and Cassandra to focus on clearing infected and saving what people they could while the berserker infected was dealt with by himself. It was better this way as no time could be wasted dealing with just one adversary when more were incoming and the infected couldn't be left alone to cause any more damage. Far too many were dead because of this monster and he had to do what he could to ensure it was taken down and its wanton path of destruction halted.

Naruto prepared himself and put away his gun while equipping a couple of explosive kunai from his waist storage scroll and readying paper bombs and explosive tags for use. For the moment his strategy consisted of weakening the infected's armor and exposing the much weaker skin underneath in which he would use chakra techniques to land the finishing blow.

Naruto jumped up avoiding a charge allowing the berserker to bypass him. In response Naruto flipped in the air and launched three explosive kunai at the infected. It wedged into its armor and without a moment too soon all three exploded with a display of fiery orange and dust, however the fight was far from over. Instead Naruto was met with a thunderous roar of pain and was greeted to the sight of only slightly damaged armor having peeling away by a little.

Naruto decided to test the armor again and launched explosive bombs at the infected. This again only peeled away a bit of its armor, however this time instead of roaring in agony it charged Naruto in a fit of rage at a much faster speed.

Naruto again dodged to the side and was greeted to the sight of the berserker infected running into a wall and burying itself unto it. Again Naruto launched explosive kunai at the target with similar results.

This process went on repeatedly and time was running out. Deciding he had enough Naruto decided to test the effectiveness of chakra bullets to put it down. The results were far more favorable and the armor peeled away exposing the more susceptible skin tissue. It was now weakened enough for a Rasengan to deal a finishing blow.

After dodging its sporadic charge one last time, Naruto prepared the Rasengan, instinctually creating it without the need of shadow clones.

Then Naruto charged the berserker with Rasengan in front and shouted "Rasengan".

Although the name-calling of the technique was unnecessary, it was his signature move and was an instinctual means to an end.

Naruto charged the Rasengan into the chest of the beast as it turned around to face his opponent. The Rasengan was strong and extremely successful as it grinded its way through the berserker infected. Then not a moment to soon the Rasengan exploded with the resultant force blasting apart the chest of the monster while sending it flying forward and further into the wall. Without a doubt the berserker infected was now dead.

Naruto took a couple of seconds of rest while inspecting the environment. He looked around and noticed the level of destruction and death throughout he chambers. The walls had multiple holes where infected were pouring in due to his fight, while Cassandra, the clones and what remained of the survivors were barely holding the infected out. The floor was littered with the corpses of civilians and infected, blood pouring out their open wounds.

More and more infected began pouring into the chamber at an exponential rate, no doubt attracted to the sounds and it was clear they couldn't hold the chambers. He needed to get Cassandra and the survivors out. There was no time.

The sewers were lost.

There was simply nothing left to save.

"We need to go!". Naruto shouted out in desperation. Infected were pouring in and the two clones he was going to leave behind could only buy a little time before they were overwhelmed and out of chakra. He needed to move.

Naruto, Cassandra and the 3 survivors ran out the bulkhead door and down the corridor using their weapons to bring down any infected in the immediate way. Those that they didn't bring down began chasing them, then all too soon the clone's dispelled and the whole horde was after them. They needed to escape the sewers.

The chase went on for a good 15 minutes, the survivors were unable to make the chase and were tackled down by infected, bitten repeatedly then added to the number of the horde. Now only Naruto and Cassandra remained. Both were running through passages and doorways closing and barricading them to buy what time they could. They dodged infected from the front lunging at them and either shot them down or dodged them adding to the number of pursuers.

Naruto and Cassandra eventually made it to the main entrance, the entrance that began Naruto's stay in the community. They passed Danny and security guards on the ground, Dead. Mauled with headshots by the looks of it and most likely caused from the berserker infected. They didn't deserve such a fate.

They approached the barrier, the doorway to the entrance and exit of the community. They were nearly free and away from the whole mess.

Naruto was tired. Exhausted from all the fighting, running and lack of sleep. He was already running on adrenaline as it is. He needed to rest and he needed it soon.

Naruto and Cassandra rushed pass the double door, locking and barricading it with what they could find. It simply wasn't enough to blockade it with a long metal object. There were simply too many bodies pressed against the door and adding to the fact that infected, particularly clickers had an added strength proved dangerous to test that theory. Therefore they couldn't trust the barricade to hold. They needed to move then regroup.

Cassandra's loud cough brought Naruto back to reality. It was clear the infection had spread to her brain and she was changing. There was nothing he could do. He tried the mystical palm technique before, but nothing changed. He simply couldn't combat the infection, not yet.

Not until he knew more about how it operated.

Regardless of all the work and training he did he was still unprepared. Everything he worked for and achieved amounted to nothing right now.

A wasted effort on his behalf.

Cassandra continued to cough. Her eyes were becoming dilated and darker and her skin incredibly pale. She was changing and he needed to do something.

Naruto eyes watered. All the stress and loss was getting to him. Destroying what mental barriers he had placed for his protection and well-being.

Regardless Naruto approached Cassandra in hope. Hope that this time his medical ninjutsu would make a difference.

This time.

"Nar... Naruto... st... stop. It won't change anything". Cassandra let out with a raspy voice, barely containing her need to cough.

"You know... it won't make... a difference".

"We won't know until we try". Naruto spoke out hoping beyond hope that things would be different this time.

Naruto performed the necessary hand seals and activated the mystic palm technique. He applied it on her arm and analysed the infection. He could tell it was already too late. He could see that it had spread to her blood and had already begun to infect her brain cells. Soon she would experience severe memory loss and eventually she would turn into a runner.

Still, Naruto frantically searched for anything, any clue in her biology that may lead to her surviving the infection, or at the very least buy her more time. It took over 20 minutes and nothing was showing up. The only difference was the exponential spread of the infection with its growth in her system along with the symptoms of severe coughs and pupil dilation.

Eventually Cassandra had enough. "Naruto... that's enough... I'm dying... I want to spend what time I can with you... then I'll join the others".

Naruto was already crying. Tears slowly pouring out his eyes, but keeping his wails non-existent to ensure Cassandra's final moments would go unhindered and remembered.

"I'm... I'm sorry Cass. If only I was stronger. Smarter. Than none of this would have happened. I could have saved you. I could have saved everyone". Naruto spoke out raspy trying his best to hold back his tears and wails from another lost friend.

"Its not your fault Naruto... you saved us... if it weren't for you we would have died sooner... I would have died sooner... I just want you to know"

Cassandra reached out cupping Naruto's soft cheeks in her palms and kissed him on the lips. "I... I love you... I wish things could have been possible… between us..."

This did nothing to calm down Naruto's internal turmoil. Rather it intensified it. Different scenarios running through his head of what could have happened if things had stayed on one path. What happiness he could have had and the love he would have given and received with Cassandra and Mary. Now those scenarios were no longer a possibility.

All because of the infection.

All because the world was screwed.

Cassandra spoke up again her voice softer and with less life. "Naruto... can you... can you sing me a poem. Like you promised. I want my last memories of you… to be sweet…. When I enter the comatose state… you know what to do... I don't want to end up as an infected... I want to pass on remembering you... The happy times we shared."

Naruto wiped his away his tears. He knew it was too late. The infection had spread to critical levels and there was nothing he could do to counter it. But he was firm in his stance to finish her last wish. So Naruto began his poem and sang.

I was searching for something

but I didn't know where to look,

I searched for so long,

and all my time it took.

What was I looking for,

or what was looking for me?

My eyes I kept open

but I just couldn't see.

It was gnawing at my heart

and ripping through my brain.

I didn't know what was wrong.

I thought I was going insane.

I was tired of looking for something

that I thought was impossible to find.

It was tearing me apart.

I prayed to God to give me a sign.

I waited and waited,

but the sign never came.

Finally, one day it happened

My heart completely changed

I found what I was looking for,

But I wasn't looking for this.

Am I sure this is what I was looking for?

Or was it something that I missed?

When I looked into the eyes

of this something I thought was fake

I saw an angel looking back,

and my heart it did take.

This something that I've been looking for

was a true gift from God above.

The missing piece I found was you and your love.

Naruto looked down at Cassandra.

She was at the dreaming state.

Only moments away from becoming a runner.

Knowing what needed to be done Naruto wiped away the tears pouring out and shakily lifted his handgun. A minute passed by. The world was quiet, even the infected from the other side of the barricade had stopped banging the door. Likely having given up on getting through.

Naruto prepared himself.

His face being stained with tears once again, then when everything seemed quiet.

Naruto fired.

**Authors note:**

**The poem is called 'I Can't Believe What I Found' and was by Danyal Conner at ( poem/i-cant-believe-what-ive-found), I put it in cause I suck at poems and when I looked at this I thought it was a good poem that would fit in with the chapter. I'm not sure if this would go down as plagiarism but I found it on an independent poem site and herby acknowledge it's contribution to Danyal Connor. I'm too lazy to put Harvard referencing. If I get a warning I'll take it down and link it so it would piss you viewers off.**

**Ok so how as the chapter, I know some of you would be pissed at the quality as I did a rushed work and avoided some detail, but I'm sure this was a satisfactory chapter. Please review as it works as inspiration to me, especially since I don't have much time to actually create as much chapters I want. I have hundreds of ideas for stories, but don't have time to draft them up and it sucks.**

**It should be at the end of the ark, next would be a summary, but I haven't fully prepared for it so you'll have to wait and see.**

**Read and Review**


	11. Chapter 11 The Ark of Truth Finale

**The Last of Naruto **

**Important notes:**

***Important***** I thought over the idea of Naruto's age and I think I made him a little young when entering the community so I will be going back eventually to change his age to 7 from his previous age of 6 when he meets Cassandra and enters the community. Naruto then is age 8 when he leaves. Naruto wanders around and the events pertaining to this chapter happens several months later when he is 9. I plan to have him meet riley as well after some time, likely at age 10, how? Well you'll have to wait and see. You may think the timeframe is cutting it close, but it seems more realistic at age 7 when he enters the dimension. **

**For Ellie the age won't change and it would mean by approximation that Naruto would be 2 years older than her. This means during the actual game ark he will be 16 while Ellie 14. The romance is still doable in terms of age.**

**Regardless the change shouldn't affect the story at all, rather the move may seem pointless change since its only 1 year error, but this year would mean a more developed physiology that would be more adaptable to the described lifestyle like being able to handle guns with bigger hands.**

**I should set up a timeline of events, but I can't be bothered. If there is a problem pm me or review and detail the problem so I'll fix it when I can.**

***Important *****If you find any mistakes can you please email or review it immediately as I need to take note of it for when I do a massive re-edit.**

**Comments:**

**Umbrass, Collin Oshea, pullbackbro, marco2o, TotalyAnonymous, guardian of inheritance, Famous FF Writer and Guest: Thanks for the positive reviews, you help inspire me to continue writing.**

**Umbrauss: Never thought of giving him such high powered guns. Guess you'll have to wait and see, but most likely no since I don't think I saw it in the game and production would have stopped for those types of weapons.**

**LordGhostStriker: Don't worry things will improve. Just creating an outline of Naruto's background to the Last of Us universe.**

**YuNarukami1995: Your right it was a bit of a troll chapter, but it had to be separated, simply cause it won't fit with this or the previous chapter. As for funny, it wasn't meant to be…**

**Wrandral: Yes I know it is a fungus that infects the brain. But no matter the way you look at it, it works like a virus, just bigger and doesn't effect the blood, only carried through the blood stream and into the brain causing mutations. Could you be more specific where I made the mistake? **

**I looked over my past chapters and noticed my writing capability has progressively improved. Yay, congratulations to myself.**

**Naruto age 9**

**Ellie age 7**

**Riley age 9**

**Years into time skip: 13**

**Years until actual arc: 7**

**The Ark of Truth Finale.**

Third POV

1 year and several months later

Naruto was currently traversing through one of the alleyways of Boston's quarantine zone as he followed Tess and Joel from the distance. He was curious of his new surroundings having been smuggled in during the night and having to wait for Joel and Tess to attain his fake identification credentials. It was simply suicide to go directly to the military for the proper credentials, especially since examinations were involved and questions of his origins would be raised, so instead the group settled with attaining fake credentials for Naruto to travel the streets.

How? Simple, Tess pulled some favors and various black market dealings to get the credentials. Of course it cost a lot of ration cards and he would have to work it off, but he was confident he could do so.

As of the moment he, Tess and Joel had a delivery to make and with him being new to the business he had to follow them till he was properly familiarised with the city.

He looked forward, eyes carefully darting around to find anything suspicious while maintaining a calm and relaxed demeanor to ward off any attention. He tensed when he noticed a guard patrolling on the rooftop, but relaxed as no attention was diverted onto him.

He may be a ninja, but he wasn't experienced in black market dealings, especially in a new world with a different form of military presence.

Currently he was an illegal immigrant on his first official day in conducting high-risk smuggling operations in and out of Boston. A smuggler who was illegally processed by the wrong people and if caught would bring about a whole new set of problems.

1: Appearing as a young child he could get out of trouble and undergo integration procedures, then made into a proper civilian of the quarantine zones. However that was after passing through rigorous medical procedures and inspections that would likely give away his unique biology, which was another problem itself. If he managed to bypass the medical procedures and inspections resulting in successfully integration after some time, it would likely result in him being sent to a military training center or 'camp for children' after all he was an orphan. He would be under constant surveillance and would lack the freedom to do much of anything.

And that's if they don't find out about his secret smuggling job and abilities.

2: If he was caught, processed and discovered to have medical discrepancies compared to the average human, he may be let into the community with the likelihood of forced military service entailing constant surveillance or live the rest of his life as a lab rat. Then again that was only if they could capture him first after all anyone would resist such a fate. This in turn would reveal his abilities starting up a man-hunt to find out his secrets from various parties including the military, the fireflies and prospecting parties wanting to take advantage of the find. This would definitely happen if they found out his natural immune system was resistant to all form of viruses, parasites and fungus. Fortunately he hadn't told anyone that yet, even his new co-workers Tess and Joel, though he knew they suspected something.

Sure it would be a major boon for humanity, but the stark differences in his DNA meant that any form of artificial replication to a attain a solution for the populace would result in failure. Naruto was not about to loose his life over something that wasn't likely to work, but as usual there was a way for his immunity to pass on and that was through having children.

Naruto shuddered at the thought of what he would be subjected to for his reproductive DNA and what his children would go through in the name of science.

3: Naruto could be immediately killed. As far as things go he was committing a major crime by smuggling in weapons and various provisions in and out of the quarantine zone. As such if he was caught in the act he would be deemed a criminal, his bounty posted all over the city, hunted and eventually forced to reveal more of his abilities just to survive intensifying the hunt yet again.

He sighed at all the prospects of trying to integrate into the community. Sure the community wasn't perfect, but it would be a whole new dynamic to explore after all this military society functioned differently than that of the elemental nations and being a proper civilian would allow him certain benefits, rather than acting in the shadows.

Looking forward he sped up to maintain a good distance with Tess and Joel. Naruto looked around the alleyways he just entered noticing the minuet details of the run down buildings, trash scattered all over the place and the overfilled bin. The buildings were dirty with cracks running down the walls, while others had bullet holes from firefights. As usual most windows were broken and have been boarded up and nailed down with wooden planks or left alone. Some windows still had air conditioners pertaining to the lost technological prowess of the past. Of course they weren't working either being in disrepair or the lack of electricity available for use.

Naruto noticed 2 civilians, one man and one woman talking by the overfilled bin and piles of trash stacked on each other. He decided to listen in on their conversation, discreetly of course.

"Wait you serious?" The man said surprised.

"I got served the damn papers this morning, *sigh* I've been selected for outside work duty". The female replied calmly before her tone changed to one of frustration and exhaustion with a strong hint of sarcasm.

"It's such crap. Soldiers are supposed to handle the outside"

"I'll make sure to tell them that"

Naruto had heard from Tess and Joel that the majority of military patrolling the streets were actual children from camp brought up to fight for the military, evident by the way they were organised, how they moved and how young they appeared. These were the ones meant to crackdown on any smugglers and firefly personnel and were loyal only to the military.

With all the recent rebellious activity happening most capable military personnel were being diverted to the safe zones. Naruto found it sad seeing those that patrolled the outskirts were now comprised mainly of civilians rushed into service from either being 'commissioned' due to the military number gap or with the need to survive and attain ration cards, the current form of currency inside the safe zones.

Naruto passed through the gate which Tess opened and traversed through the narrow alleyway full of garbage and broken furniture. He noticed a rusted sign opposite to the gate that hung crookedly on the wall. Most noticeable about it was the red spray-painted words 'FREE', a sign of the extent of military oppression. He looked left and noticed another spray paint sign in white and in capitals 'SEEK THE FIRE'.

He trudged down the alleyway passing more garbage pilled on an overstuffed bin and more boarded up windows as he walked onto the street. As he entered Naruto immediately took note of the military guards posted in front, one on the roof and 2 more on the opposite side of the street. They were in their standard assault rifles and decked out in bluish combat ware with the vest armor and helmet.

Suddenly a military Humvee passed on the road with a microphone in front

"Attention. Citizens are required to carry a current ID at all times. Compliance with all city personnel is mandatory".

He looked again at the landscape taking note of the slightly crooked transmission pole and the wire and cement barricades set up. As expected none of the buildings looked like they had undergone any form of maintenance since the outbreak.

"Look at that. Ration line hasn't opened yet. Must be running low again". Tess said natural to the situation while leaning on a cement barricade waiting for Naruto to catch up.

He noticed the people lining up in front of the building frustrated at the lack of movement.

"Hey. How much longer?" a female civilian said with clear annoyance in her voice.

"Lady. When the rations arrive, we'll open the door. Alright?" was the simple reply from the guard.

"This is fucking bullshit. I bet those uniforms over there don't get-half rations" a civilian man spoke up agitated at the length of time being spent on waiting.

He travelled further down the streets. More soldiers were present and he noticed a make shift barricade set up with people being detained behind. It had several guards posted with a military Humvee close by. The guards this time however were not wearing helmets. Instead they wore hats.

He focused on the figures behind the barricade and noticed a number of civilians kneeling down while some were being forced to with arms behind their heads. He took notice of 2 more people decked out in white quarantine ware who were leading the operation. Military police he assumed and clearly they were in a middle of an investigation, of what he wasn't sure.

Trying not to look suspicious Naruto passed them by slowly while listening on their conversations.

"Let go." One of the civilian men said

"You leave me alone" another replied agitated.

"Down on the ground". One of the men decked out in white quarantine uniform expressed with authority in his voice, easily dominating in the entire conversation.

"I hear it's another half ration week". He heard a female guard posted by the barricade say to another soldier clearly ignoring what was transpiring behind her or simply not caring.

"Okay. Okay. Jesus". A frightened man spoke this time afraid at what was happening.

"I said get down." The quarantine argued again in a higher voice, however instead was met with frustration with the remaining man standing.

"Are you fucking kidding me? That's a three weeks in a row now." The still standing civilian man spoke frustrated at the common occurrence.

*pow * 'cought'.

"I didn't do anything wrong".

"Hands on your fucking head. Do it"

"Well. What're you gonna do?"

"Keep your voice down. What's wrong with you?" a civilian said angrily towards the quarantine officer also loosing patience. By now Naruto was disgusted at what was happening, yet could do nothing.

"Alright scan them".

"Seems like more people are getting infected". Tess finally spoke up as she too was listening on at the conversation from the distance while walking slowly towards the checkpoint.

"That just means more people sneaking out". Joel finally spoke up, clearly experienced to the investigation taking place.

"Whatever. I don't care anymore. Let 'em take me."

"He's clean"

"Clean".

Then suddenly.

"Got a live one"

"No. I'm not infected" the female spoke up desperate out of confusion or unaware of her infection.

At this Naruto stopped walking and looked back on the scene. He knew what was going to happen as Tess filled him in on what Boston was like and knew he couldn't intervene or risk exposure. No wonder the fireflies were increasing in power.

"Ah shit. Hold her down."

"It's wrong. The scan's wrong" the female replied desperately again. Crying this time.

"Do it." The man spoke quickly signifying his experience with the scenario.

"Please" the girl was now begging with tears in her eyes.

Naruto watched on and did nothing. He could do nothing. In the past he would have rushed in and saved her like a knight to a princess, but this was the present in a different world with different rules.

Having gone through the 4th Shinobi War and the events in the sewer community he could no longer rush in without thinking. He knew there would be severe consequences if he did so, especially when he discovered the effect natural chakra had to the infected. So instead he watched from the distance and for a brief moment their eyes connected.

Then.

*bang *

"Alright she's down"

"Fuck this" a male civilian said as he ran trying to escape the scene

"Stop" a uniformed guard spoke out suddenly while aiming down the crosshairs of his gun.

*Bang *

"Holy Shit. Holy Shit".

"Shut up. Consider yourself lucky. That's what happens when you hide out in a condemned building. Call the cleanup crew".

"Yes sir. We'll stay put. They're on their way. Shouldn't be long". One of the guards in uniforms said. The investigation was over.

Naruto looked away. Sure it was his first time in Boston and the whole experience was new to him, but he knew he could do nothing. For the moment he had to watch out for himself so he looked away and walked on towards the checkpoint.

Tess and Joel already having moved on.

As he progressed further towards the first checkpoint, Naruto couldn't help but think on how things have changed and the life he left behind in the sewers.

All the friends and family he made.

And lost.

It was a depressing thought, melancholic in nature and almost brought tears to his eyes yet again.

Almost.

He had cried enough. He had moved on through the continuality of time.

He won't forget all he had accomplished and lost, as it was what defined him.

**_Flashback_**

Naruto POV

It had been weeks since the events pertaining to the end of the community and my short life in the sewers. Everyone as far as I know was dead and everything I had loved and fought for was ended by the infection or by my hand.

After sending Cassandra to her eternal sleep I had passed out exhausted from all the strenuous activity, stress and lack of sleep pilling on from the days events.

It truly was a horrid sleep.

I dreamt of all my friends I made from the Elemental Nations standing side by side the family and friends I made in this new world.

Complete happiness was plastered on their faces.

Granny Tsunade, Ero-Sannin and Sakura were there, but more importantly so were Mary and Cassandra. Mary was dressed up in a sunflower dress and looked healthy as she stood upright. Cassandra was standing next to her with her usual red hoodie and tight blue jeans. Both were holding hands and both were calling out to me louder than everyone else.

Enticing me to join them.

To follow them.

But as I walked forward, I could never approach them.

Every step did nothing to conquer the distance between us. I was only a few meters away, yet it was an unconquerable distance.

Over and over again I tried and tried to approach them, shouting out at them that I wanted to join them, yet nothing changed. I couldn't get closer to them.

Couldn't be with them.

I was now desperate and lunged at them just hoping that I could touch them, but I couldn't move. My body was paralysed and all I could do was look on.

Eventually everyone began disappearing one by one, first those from the elemental nations, then those from the community.

By the time everyone had disappeared with smiles on their faces, Cassandra and Mary remained.

They both spoke.

"Naruto" Mary said soothingly.

"We're heading this way. You should go back now". Cassandra spoke up cheerfully

"It's time for us to get going"

"What are you talking about?" I replied desperate. "The three of us will go together".

There was a moment of silence.

"You have a world to explore don't you".

"You can't rely on us forever".

"Later Naruto, if there is a heaven we'll see you there someday okay". Mary said cheerfully yet again.

"wa… wait" I rasped out, I couldn't loose them. I had already lost enough. I couldn't stand loosing anyone else.

I reached out with my arm, hoping they would pull me through.

"please don't leave me alone".

They didn't turn around; instead they started walking away in the distance.

Slowly disappearing.

I awoke with a jolt and a cold sweat pouring down my brow. It was a horrible dream and something I won't forget anytime soon. I looked around trying to regain my bearings. It was dark, yet there was miniscule amounts of moonlight pouring through the gutters and other openings in the walls. I could hear low sounds of clicks and groans behind the barricaded door behind me.

Slowly I remembered what had transpired that day, what had happened to the community and what had happened to Cassandra and Mary. I realized I had never actually left the nightmare that ensued earlier that day. I was still in the sewers and had just collapsed from exhaustion after dealing the final blow to Cassandra through the heart.

'Cassandra'.

Shakily I looked right to see Cassandra sleeping peacefully in a permanent bliss. It was a beautiful yet sad sight; memories of the times we spent together came pouring back bringing tears to my eyes.

I stayed there slumped by the side of the barricade taking in the whole situation.

Contemplating all I had lost and how weak I truly was.

I didn't know how long I stayed there slumped beside Cassandra, but it was long. Hours had passed by and all I did was look at Cassandra and the memories of my life.

My life as a shinobi,

My life as a survivor.

Eventually the hunger got the best of me having not eaten all day and expending large amounts of energy to survive. This proved beneficial as it brought me out of depression and had me focus on something else, for the time being.

Knowing the community was dead. I planned to retrieve the bodies of those precious to me. It was far too dangerous to attempt a complete retrieval with my current emotional turmoil and a horde of infected behind the door, but I at least needed closure with Mary and Cassandra.

Having practiced thoroughly with fuinjutsu it was now possible to seal bodies into my scrolls without any repercussions. Firming myself on what I had to do I sealed Cassandra into my large scroll strapped to my back, then prepared myself to face the horde.

My family at least deserved a burial.

Unblocking the barricade and opening the doors I charged. Intending to dish out as much damage I could to the monstrosities and to get what closure I could.

**_1 day later:_**

A day had passed and I had successfully retrieved Mary, Melissa and Max and found a large hill by the side of the river where I could bury them.

The confrontation with Mary and the parents was literally one of the worst fights of my life. It wasn't hard, just emotionally difficult. Her mutated red eyes staring at me with great malice and anger, opposite to the kind, upbeat and caring Mary I once knew. Blood trickled down her brow signifying what she had been doing, eating the corpses that lay on the ground.

Her own mother and father.

The infected had not been satisfied when the parents likely turned to suicide and began eating them.

It was a horrid sight.

They didn't deserve to die like this.

Mary didn't deserve to loose her memory of everything she fought for and everything she loved just to be turned into a mindless infected.

The memory of this encounter would forever be etched into my mind and dreams.

I did what I could to not destroy her body and keep her head intact. It took a lot of effort but eventually I was met with success, yet it was still a horrid sight to look at. Her snarling expression plastered on her face, even in death.

I focused back on the present and looked down at the grave holes my clones and I dug by the river cliff. I had scavenged coffins from the local chapel that were unused and untouched. It was clear nobody found use for them in the present world, but I had a purpose for them.

I wanted to give Mary, Cassandra, Melissa and Max a proper burial by their culture. They deserved that much for bringing happiness to my life no matter how brief it was.

In addition I was able to scavenge flowers, a tombstone and proper clothing as my clones and I dressed the family up for a proper burial. For the parents this proved difficult as they were missing large chunks of flesh, but after rigorous emotional difficulty I was able to dress them up and cover their wounds.

Then I prepared my farewell speech and spoke it to the heavens and to the family.

A thousand times we needed you

A thousand times we cried

If love alone could have saved you

you never would have died

A heart of gold stopped beating

two twinkling eyes closed to rest

God broke our hearts to prove he only took the best

never a day goes by that you're not in my heart and my soul.

I looked one last time before the cover would close permanently, barring my sight from them forever.

All members were dressed appropriately.

All their eyes were closed with a serene expression plastered on their faces.

Then after an hour of reflection, memories passing by as I looked on, I gave the order to my clones to close the coffins and descend the bodies to the Earth.

First the parents went down,

Then Mary

Then Cassandra.

I didn't know how long I stayed there looking on at their graves as the clones dispersed, but I stayed as long as I could. It was dangerous to stay too long as infected or other scavengers may notice my presence, but I didn't care.

By some divine miracle they didn't.

**_Flashback end_**

I focused back forward as I approached the checkpoint only meters away from the tragic investigation, yet everyone remained calm and natural as they casually talked to one another, evidence of death being common occurrence.

I noticed Military vehicles and trucks entering through the gate by the highway. Metal fences and gates had been set up and the irony of it all was there was a lone American flag atop a pole and a closed newsstand only meters away. Out of all the areas I passed this was clearly the cleanest.

I looked up at the view and was taken back by the beauty. The clouds were overshadowing the city, yet the sunlight was penetrating them causing the overcast to glow silver. Most skyscrapers appeared unaffected of the events transpiring below testament to man's technological achievements, yet one lone tower had collapsed and was leaning off its twin for support. Truly the apocalyptic scene was beautiful.

As I walked and analysed the scenery I overheard another conversation, this time between a male and female guard.

"They fuckin lynched em" the female spoke up

"The entire squad?"

"Yeah. Way I heard it. They lined them up in the street and cut 'em up. Retribution and shit."

"We ever loose control of this place to the stragglers. That's what will happen to us." The female said again

"That will never go down here. Any stragglers even looks at me the wrong way. I put his ass down". The male guard spoke up confidant in his abilities.

"I'm sure that's what they thought at every other QZ before the riots broke out".

"It's those Goddamn fireflies. They keep stirring the population up. We need to put an end to them. That's how you solve this shit"

It appears the fireflies have the military on constant edge with their guerilla tactics and careful co-ordination working to hinder what order the military provided. Then again the military had a bit of a tyrannical streak due to the permanent marshal law, the negligence of basic human rights and the struggle to produce food. The few minutes of walking down the street were proof enough and as expected this tended to put people on edge and everyone needed someone to blame.

Others just lashed out.

Violently.

The failed quarantine zones were proof of that.

I walked further noticing the checkpoint meters away. Military Humvee's and trucks were lined up waiting to be processed and pass through the several metal gates that had been set up. Many warning signs were posted up and again there were many guards that were either patrolling or being stationary on the walkway, guard towers or on the ground with Assault rifles in hand.

I looked up and took note of the yellow banner that stood out as I approached entrance to the next district. 'Checkpoint, South 5' it read indicting their location. Additionally a guard had been posted there to check credentials with an assault rifle in hand, prepared for any suspicious activity.

"I got us new papers. They shouldn't give us any static up there." Tess said.

"Just play it cool"

I approached the checkpoint taking out my fake identification credentials with an innocent look plastered on my face, although this did nothing to diffuse the sternness in the guard's expression. As expected they were lax around me being a child in their eyes, except for the expected questions of why I was not in military academy, why I was travelling with Tess and Joel and why I was carrying a suspiciously large scroll almost the size of myself on my back. To anybody this was ground's for suspicion, but seeing as I was a 'kid' Tess answered for me. After checking the scrolls only to find random 'squiggly lines', they didn't push their suspicion any further chalking it up to me being a weird kid.

Had they known the truth of what I was carrying they would have either detained me immediately or opened fire.

I was fortunate that very few people knew of my abilities and even then it was a select few people I had a level of trust and had begun to work with. Additionally if they blabbered my abilities no one would believe them and chalk them up to being crazy. Had the guard's known what I could do and manage to bypass the 'squiggly lines' on the scroll, they would have noticed that the scrolls were actually packed to the brim with ammunition, weapons and medical equipment that would supply a small-scale army.

Our current mission was to deliver the equipment to the fireflies after we found a safe place to conduct the delivery after all I didn't want people finding out my abilities. Guess I'm the delivery boy these days.

I *sighed* thinking about Konoha and the missions there. What I was doing was similar to what the black-ops ANBU and elite ninja's did. I was just doing it with a greater level of success and lower risk by taking advantage of my abilities in a chakra-less world. I guess that's why I took the business with Tess and Joel.

It reminded me of home.

I'm hoping eventually that I can bring a piece of my home by distributing chakra out like the sage of 6 paths did and what I did with Kurama during the 4th Shinobi war, but that's a long way from being practical again. Even then is it really the right thing to do? Endless wars followed the creation of chakra, what's to say the same thing won't happen here especially when lone individuals can challenge and change the world to the extent Madara Uchiha did and not in a good way. He had seen enough assholes in his journey here.

The electronic gates creaked open bringing me back to the present. I was free to pass through to the other district alongside Tess and Joel. A preferable path to take rather than travelling through underground passageways and buildings that were likely crawling with infected.

I took back my ID credentials and thanked the officer, then began walking down the road passing more guards alert for any signs of suspicion or activity.

I had to focus.

We had a trade to do.

**Final Comments:**

**The poem is called 'In Memory' by Kimberly N. Chastain at ( poem/in-memory-2). I put it in cause I suck at poems and thought that this would fit the scenario, even if it is short. I'm not sure if this will go down as plagiarism but I found it on an independent poem site and herby acknowledge its contribution to the story. I can't be bothered with Harvard referencing. If I get a warning I'll take it down and just link it.**

**Ok so how as the chapter, I'm sure this was a satisfactory chapter and most of you are pleased the story is make further progress. Please review as it works as inspiration to me, especially since I don't have much time to actually create as much chapters I want. I have hundreds of ideas for stories, but don't have time to draft them up and it sucks. **

**It is officially the end of the ark and another popping up soon. I haven't fully prepared for it but I have a rudimentary idea what to do. Also I want to know if people want me to continue the story and move on from the meeting with Joel and Tess or do a chapter on their meeting. I have a good idea and you would like it, but it would take a chapter or 2, maybe 3. Send me your thoughts on a review or PM.**

**Read and Review**


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